Finding Peace in a World Filled With Fear

How can you find peace in a world filled with fear? Learn 5 Strategies for finding peace, facing fear, and experiencing freedom in this devotional blog.

5 Strategies for Overcoming Fear

Fear, it is pervasive in our world. Fear can be incredibly insidious and fear is powerful. Unless we choose to address fear, it can control our lives, and rob us of the peace, joy, strength and freedom which are rightfully our inheritance through Jesus Christ.

Some fears are inherent to being human. For example, newborn babies have two fears: loud noises and falling.

"Babies' brains and nerves grow rapidly in the first two years of life, but they are born with very immature nervous systems. This means that they cannot interpret or handle certain sensory input -- like loud noises or the feeling of falling. Fear -- of loud noises, monsters, strangers, or other objects and events -- is a natural part of childhood. But while experiencing fear is stressful to children and parents alike, it should not be minimized. A part of normal development, being afraid is a sign that the child is gaining awareness of the world and trying to make sense of it, says Ari Brown, MD, coauthor of Baby 411 (Windsor Peak Press). Fortunately, most fears arrive at predictable stages, and with some insight, parents can help their child navigate his or her fears and walk more confidently through childhood. (Parent Magazine)

Fear that is minimized, ignored or not well navigated in childhood can set an individual up for fearful responses as they grow into adulthood, where there is no actual threat. As well as conditioning the mind to accept limiting beliefs and mindsets based on fear.

Fear can also be a learned behavior in that we sense fear from others, we can learn it from our own experiences, and from what we expose our minds to. More often than not, fear comes from our own minds and our imagination. Unlike the animal world, God created us with the ability to dream, create and imagine. When we use our minds to worry, our creative energy to self-protect from something that hasn’t even happened and imagine undesirable outcomes, we are using a gift God gave us in a destructive way.

“Worry is a misuse of the imagination.” - Unknown

More often than not, we hold ourselves back from new experiences, relationships, or pursuing a dream by imagining a negative outcome instead of a positive one. Science has proven that the subconscious mind cannot differentiate a negative from a positive. It takes in all those thoughts as fact and then goes to work to communicate those facts to the conscious mind. So you can literally bring about what you think about most in your life. Our minds are very powerful and what we tend to focus on is the direction we will go.

If you are driving down the road and your focus is on looking ahead and staying between the lines, you will keep your vehicle in your lane. If however, you allow your focus to linger on something else for more than 1-3 seconds, you will begin to actually steer your vehicle in the direction you are looking. So it is with our thoughts.

“Worry doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its strength.”

Corrie Ten Boom

Psychologists use an acronym for fear: “Fantasized Experiences Appearing Real.” Another one is “False Evidence Appearing Real.” In either case, it is NOT real. More often than not, fear is all about what MIGHT happen – not what WILL happen. Jesus says in Matthew 6,

“Therefore I tell you, don’t worry about your life – what you will eat or drink; or about your body – what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds flying about! They neither plant nor harvest, nor do they gather food into barns; yet Your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they are?

Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to his or her life?

And why be anxious about clothing? Think about the fields of wild irises, and how they grow. They neither work nor spin thread, yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed as beautifully as one of these. If this is how God clothes grass in the field – which is here today and gone tomorrow, thrown in the oven – won’t He much more clothe you? What little trust you have!

So don’t be anxious asking, ‘What will we eat?’ “What will we drink?’ or “How will we be clothed?’ for it is the pagans who set their hearts on all those things.

Your heavenly Father knows you need them all.

But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness,

and all these things will be given to as well.

Don’t worry about tomorrow – tomorrow will worry about itself!

Today has enough troubles already.”

Matthew 6:25-34 (CJB)

Where there is God’s peace, there is an absence of worry or anxiety, fretting or despair. I’ve read this passage many times throughout my life, and yet when I opened my Bible to this passage a couple days ago, the words took on an entirely new significance and meaning for me. How often I have worried about things I have no control over? How many hours of my life have been irretrievably lost trying to predict an outcome so I could protect myself from possible pain or avoid disappointment? Or been all consumed with something I was planning - hoping every little detail would be perfect? Can you relate at all? Yet Jesus tells us not to worry and instead, above all else, to set our heart on knowing Him and seeking His Kingdom.

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When Jesus said in John 14:27, “What I am leaving you with is peace – I am giving you my peace. I don’t give the way the world gives. Don’t let yourselves be upset or frightened.” is that as a Believer we have His peace. What does that mean? How can the Lord give a peace different from what the world gives? Well, what do you think about when you think about peace? So often I thought it meant calm; absence of turmoil, fear, violence or war; nice; soothing. Yet, my definition is different than what the Bible teaches us about peace.

The word for “peace” in Hebrew is “shalom”. Shalom means something different all together. Shalom means wholeness, completeness, lacking in nothing, perfect. Wow! The peace or shalom of Jesus Christ is complete, whole, perfect, lacking in nothing!

We do have a choice about what we will think on. Will we dwell on the goodness of God and experience His peace and move forward in our lives with courage and faith? Or will we dwell on all that is bad in the world, on we cannot control and be paralyzed by fear, worry, and anxiety?

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Most of us tend to think the same thoughts over and over. (If you don’t believe this, then try writing all of your thoughts as they come to you in a notebook for one week.) In most cases, something happens one time - there are exceptions when it comes to experiencing neglect or abuse of any kind. We experience a painful or frightening moment or situation. The fact is, it happened once and it is over. But when we play it over and over in our mind, what happens is that we become emotionally stuck on repeat, so we re-live the fear or the experience multiple times.

Neuroscience imaging shows the affect our thoughts have on our brain and our bodies.

According to Neuroscience research and imaging, these negative and fearful thoughts played over-and-over in our minds form deep, black grooves. The more repetitive the negative, anxious, or fearful thoughts, the deeper the grooves go.

The good news is that the opposite is also true. The more positive, life-giving and truth filled thoughts we think, the whiter and lighter these grooves become. In-other-words, neuroscience supports the truth of the Bible. When we replace negative, fear-based thoughts with positive, truthful thoughts based on Scripture, we literally change the neuropathways of our brains.

Our brains are neuro-plastic, meaning they are created in such a way that we can literally change our lives by changing our thoughts. Thoughts that are learned can be un-learned and replaced.

Neuroplasticity, also known as neural plasticity, or brain plasticity, is the ability of neural networks in the brain to change through growth and reorganization. It is when the brain is rewired to function in some way that differs from how it previously functioned. These changes range from individual neuron pathways making new connections, to systematic adjustments like cortical remapping. Examples of neuroplasticity include circuit and network changes that result from learning a new ability, environmental influences, practice, and psychological stress.

Neuroplasticity was once thought by neuroscientists to manifest only during childhood, but research in the latter half of the 20th century showed that many aspects of the brain can be altered (or are "plastic") even through adulthood. However, the developing brain exhibits a higher degree of plasticity than the adult brain. Activity-dependent plasticity can have significant implications for healthy development, learning, memory, and recovery from brain damage

Paul writes in Romans 12:2:

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2 (NLT)

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The Message version says it this way:

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life - your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. Romans 12:2 (MSG)

These Scriptures tell us that we can control our thoughts. Fear comes up a lot in coaching. What I share with my clients is that while you can’t control every thought that comes into your mind, you can control how long you dwell on it.

It’s like someone coming to your house and knocking on your door. You can’t control that they (thought) have come to your house (mind) and that they are knocking (trying to get your attention). However, you can control whether you open the door, talk with them for a few minutes and send them on their way, or whether you invite them in to dine with you or you allow them to just move in and live with you! You DO have power over your thoughts.

It is your thoughts that determine your feelings. If you are not aware of what you are thinking, then your feelings are usually an accurate barometer or litmus test of what thoughts you are thinking.

The ripple effect goes like this: Your thoughts determine your feelings. Your feelings influence your behavior (decisions and actions). Your behavior shapes your habits. Your habits form your character. Your character determines the quality of your life.

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All too often, we allow fear to run amok like a wild beast in our minds and we don’t stop to realize that we have relinquished the control of our wellbeing to a paper tiger. Here are 5 Strategies for Overcoming Fear and living empowered:

5 Strategies for Overcoming Fear

1. Become Aware of Your Thoughts

Whenever you feel worried, anxious or fearful, retrace your mental steps and observe what you are thinking. What thoughts led to your feelings? Perhaps even to a very real visceral experience?

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NKJ)

Battles are fought and won or lost in your mind. This is not a one-and-done. This is a thought-by-thought, moment-by-moment mental discipline rooted in the courage of being free and living empowered in the authority given to you through Christ Jesus. You have to take up the spiritual armor God has given to you and use it. (Ephesians 6:13-18)

2. Choose Your Thoughts - Replace Lies with the Truth

Once you identify the negative or fearful thought, then you can choose to exchange it for a positive and truthful one. You cannot get rid of negative, fearful or anxious thoughts simply by not thinking them. Just as there are very real physical laws, such as gravity and momentum, there are also spiritual laws. The Law of Replacement dictates that you can’t replaces something with nothing. You have to replace it with something else.

Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

Philippians 4:8-9 (MSG)

You can exchange the fearful thoughts based on lies for the truth found in God’s Word. What is your signature lie? We all have one. And that lie usually sneaks up on us when we step out of our comfort zone, like a lion-tamer cracking a whip saying “get back! Get back!”

Here are some of the most common lies I hear when I talk with women:

“I’m not good enough.”

“I’ll never measure up.”

“Not worthy.” (Of love, protection, kindness, success, healthy relationships, etc.)

“I cannot trust anyone.”

“My worth and value are determined by what I do (my achievements).”

“If it’s not perfect then it’s not worth pursuing.”

“My worth is determined by what others think of me.”

“I can’t.” or “I don’t have what it takes.”

“I must meet other people’s expectations of me.”

“What I do is not good enough.”

“People are just going to hurt me / reject me.”

“I don’t trust myself to follow through, so why try?”

The list could go on. Do you see your signature lie in there? What truth can you replace it with?

An insightful resource to explore is the podcast, Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess by Christian Neuroscientist, Dr. Caroline Leaf who has also written several books. (Listed on the Resources page of our website).

3. Bring Yourself Back to the Present Moment

More often than not, fearful thoughts are either re-playing a past event or projecting a negative outcome into the future. If you anchor your mind in the present moment, you can begin to gain control over the fear. Notice your surroundings. What you do see? Smell? Hear? Taste? Touch?

Slow your breathing. Breathe deeply and become fully present. Ask yourself, “where am I right now? “Is there something life-threatening actually going on in this present moment? Is my safety in jeopardy in this present moment?” Sometimes it helps to speak out loud what you see, hear, touch, smell or taste or narrate what you are doing. It helps to ground you in the moment. All too often we rob ourselves of peace and joy by simply not being present.

“For where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.”

2 Corinthians 3:17 (CJB)

4. Observe What Your Body is Communicating to You

Observe the physical sensations you experience when you think fearful thoughts. Is there a knot in your stomach, shortness of breath, tightness in your shoulders or is your heart racing? What is your body trying to communicate to you? Sometimes we have experienced trauma in our body and we get stuck because we are not aware of how that trauma is expressing itself. (A helpful resource to learn more about this is the book, The Body Keeps Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk, M.D. listed on the Resources page of our website).

As you change your thoughts to those that bring peace, joy, and safety, notice how these positive emotions show up in your body. Is there a rush of warmth, a sense of delight, a smile on your face? This curious observation of your body can help neutralize fears.

God created your body to function in intricate, amazing ways for optimum health and wellbeing. Your body is not separate from you. Your body is not your enemy. It is beautifully, awesomely, and wonderfully made! Your body reflects the glory and beauty and creativity of God! When you see yourself holistically – body, spirit, and soul (comprised of your mind, will, and emotions) and pay attention to what your body is communicating, you can gain insight on how to nourish your body and give yourself self-compassion. For more, read and meditate on Psalm 139.

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!

Psalm 139:13-18 (NLT)

5. Read God’s Word and Receive His Promises

While this is the most important of the 5 Strategies, more often than not, we have to apply the first 4 before we are able to receive and believe God’s promises to us.

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For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJ)

Notice that Paul writes, “Spirit of fear.” We cannot negate or ignore the reality of a spiritual realm, spiritual forces, angels and demons, and a spiritual battle if we are to have victory over fear. Demonic spirits have names. If you read through the Gospels, you will see that Jesus addresses and casts out demonic spirits by name.

I am not saying that all fear is caused by a demonic spirit of fear. A lot of fear is caused by allowing our minds to run out of control, like a herd of wild mustangs galloping across the Wyoming plains, instead of putting a bit and bridle in the horse’s mouth to guide it where you want to go. What I am saying, is that because God has given you all authority and power over the enemy (Luke 10:19) you do not have to give in to a spirit of fear. You can claim out loud that you have been given a “spirit of power, love, and a sound mind.” (Here is an encouraging and powerful song by Matthew West: Power Love Sound Mind)

God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love. I John 4:-17-1 to8 (MSG)

As we grow in maturity in our relationship with our Father and Creator, this maturity is to be evidenced in our thoughts and in our lives.

Is your heart is open to accept God's love, His generosity? Have you kept God, as a loving Father, from giving you all He wants to give you? Where, because of life experiences, a broken heart, or shattered dreams, have you have settled for the costume jewelry? Friend, your good, gracious and loving Father longs to give you real pearls and diamonds, and adorn you as the son or daughter of the King that you really are in Christ Jesus!

“Clothed with strength and dignity she can laugh at the days to come.” Proverbs 31:25

When you are clothed in the strength and dignity of the Lord, your confidence is in Him. When you trust Him completely, you can live in today and laugh [at the days to come], not worry. You can be confident that He will take care of you. You can rest in His love. In that rest you can know Shalom.

If you would like support with overcoming fear, becoming aware of barriers to receiving God’s love and living with purpose and freedom, I would love to come alongside you to offer that support. To learn more, you can schedule HERE for a no-obligation Create a Life You Love Discovery Session.

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Editor's Note:

This blog is by Jen Stone-Sexton, Author, Speaker, Christian Life Coach and Freedom to Flourish Founder. Jen is currently accepting new clients. You can learn more here.

Jennifer C. Stone-Sexton © 2023

All graphics created by Jen Stone-Sexton or Morgan Howard © 2023

All Rights Reserved.

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Photo Credits: Photo 1 by Jonny Gios on Unsplash