Fear Is a Liar and Other Important Reminders

Fear is a liar. Well, maybe not always.

• If fear tells you not to step out on the ledge of a skyscraper, it’s probably telling the truth.
• If fear tells you to wear a life vest when sailing in choppy ocean waters, it’s probably offering wise and truthful counsel.
• If fear tells you not to pick up a venomous snake, you might want to listen.

But often fear—when the potential consequences it warns about are not fatal or even dangerous—is a liar. Fear tells us to avoid certain actions because we might embarrass ourselves, or we might fail, or we might waste our time, or someone might not like us, or any number of “mights” we can imagine.

Wisdom from The Last Arrow

Several years ago, I read The Last Arrow by Erwin Raphael McManus. This past week I was at the West Coast Christian Writers Conference in Roseville, California. One of the speakers asked us to think of a book that impacted us in a big way. This is the second book that came to mind. (Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis was the first).

On my flight home last night, I revisited this book on my Kindle, perusing the passages I had highlighted. The one quoted in the graphic above stood out to me again. “Instead of running from your fears, lean into them, for on the other side of them is the future you long for.” The Last Arrow, page 24.

Fear Is a Liar about Consequences

In my writing journey, fear has tried to stop me from pitching my book and article ideas to agents and editors. I did it anyway.

Because I still don’t have a book contract for my memoir, fear has tried to convince me to give up. It uses the often-heard mantra “memoir doesn’t sell” to support its lies. It tells me I’ll make a fool of myself if I keep pitching this book God has put on my heart. But I pitched my memoir again anyway at this most recent conference.

And although I didn’t get a green light for the memoir, I did get a request for a proposal for a related Christian living book on forgiveness. More importantly, I didn’t make a fool of myself. Instead, I made a new connection in Christian publishing. I took one more step in the direction of my dreams and the future I long for.

Biblical Reminders about Fear

The Bible verse for the West Coast Christian Writers Conference this year was Joshua 1:9, which reads:

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

Fears can be big, but never as big as our God, our Mighty Defender, our Rock, our Redeemer. If God is with us, fear has no power.

This Truth Applies to More Than Writing

In a prior post, I wrote about overcoming my fear of water. The key there was prayer, as well as reliance on God. Whatever fear you are facing, remember this: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7 NLT).

The spirit of fear comes from the enemy of our soul. He does not want us to thrive; he does not want us to obtain the future we long for.

But God wants for us an abundant life and prosperous future. He longs for us to have even more success and Kingdom impact than we can even imagine.

Closing Prayer on Fear

Heavenly Father, I pray for each person reading this article, that You would stand with them in their fear so that they might lean into it and push right through. May Your strength and wisdom help us all to keep our eyes on the truth. Grant courage to ignore the lies fear uses to keep us from taking risks that will bring You glory and us an abundant future. In Jesus’s name, amen.