I know that feeling all too well – my stomach’s doing flips, thoughts are flying everywhere, and this creeping sense of dread settles in. It’s like, we’ve all had our fair share of freak-out moments, right? So, I started questioning, what is it that lets fear grab hold of us in the first place? The other day, I found myself digging through my Bible to see if it gives us any insight into why we get so knotted up. As I pored over the words, I began to piece together where this fear thing starts and- amazingly- how its perspective helps us navigate the dark in order to reach the light.
Top 5 Bible Verses About Where Does Fear Come From Bible
I’ve found that delving into scripture can be super helpful when navigating tough topics. Check out these bible verses – they do a pretty good job of setting the scene, you know?. As I dug deeper, it became clear that understanding where fear originates is kinda crucial…
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My Take on Fear in the Bible
I think about all the times fear’s had me in a chokehold, and I reckon I’m not the only one who’s struggled with it. There’s heaps of stories in the Bible about people who were scared witless but learnt to put their trust in God when things seemed pretty hopeless.
What Fear Means in the Bible
The way I see it, fear’s pretty much the same in the Bible as it is today – it’s that sinking feeling in your gut when you think you’re in trouble. It’s your heart racing like a jackrabbit, or that awful feeling that you’re in over your head. But then the Bible goes and says,
“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” (Isaiah 41:10, KJV).
That bit always reminds me that even when I’m scared spitless, God’s got my back, and he’s promising to make me stronger and hold me up.
All the Different Kinds of Fear in the Bible
The Bible talks about a bunch of different fears – like the fear of God, fear of what other people think, and fear of what might happen. Fear of God’s like a healthy respect for how powerful He is, but the other two can be pretty crippling and give you the heebie-jeebies. Like Franklin D. Roosevelt said,
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
How Fear and Faith are Connected
Now, I’ve always wondered where fear comes from, and it seems the Bible reckons it’s because we’re not trusting in God enough. When we focus on how messed up things are instead of how good God is, that’s when fear starts to worm its way in. But the Bible also says,
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7, KJV).
That bit always gives me a kick up the pants – reminds me that as a kid of God, I’ve got the spirit of power, love, and a level head, so I don’t have to let fear rule my life. If I keep my eyes on what the Bible says and work on trusting God more, I can bonk fear on the head and live a life that’s all about faith and confidence, not fear and doubt.
Where Does Fear Come From, According to the Bible?
I was just thinking, what does the Bible say about fear – you know, how we got it in the first place? To find that out, let’s take a trip way back…
The story of Adam and Eve’s pretty well-known, but somehow I never really noticed how fear came into the picture before. See, in Eden, those two lived life in perfect sync with God, worry-free.
That went on till they went against God’s rule – don’t eat from that one specific tree of knowledge, I think we all remember that much…
“And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” (Genesis 3:2-3, KJV).
This whole disobeying thing kinda… opened the door to fear. It slipped into our lives back then and has kinda hung around ever since.
Satan’s Role – How Fear Took Hold
John 8:44 in the Bible calls Satan the “father of lies,” and it’s pretty clear he played a big part in all this fear business.
In Eden, Satan slipped his way into the mix and just manipulated Adam and Eve; basically used fear as a means to an end – you know, control ’em. Tricked ’em into believing God held stuff back on ’em, didn’t care for ’em like he said…
The entire deception messed things up and kinda finally made way for that first fear which down the line caused some other problems…
Consequences and Fears
The entire fallout after Adam and Eve’s mistake had some major impacts – fear came out to be this entire, directly traceable aftereffect of sin.
When God comes strolling through the Garden next, they straight away just curl up with fear somewhere.
“And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.” (Genesis 3:8, KJV).
We pretty much catch the whole cycle repeating with everyone, right up to today… sinning and worrying about sin… feeling like being on the low constantly so God doesn’t spot it. Sometimes it all makes His angry side get more attention.
Still, it turns out, that’s just one way of looking at stuff; don’t forget – we’ve also got a Father God figure full of this genuine warmth – really all He wants is help us come back to how we should live around Him.
It sneaks in occasionally, but honestly whenever fear makes that one special comeback… we could try remembering it didn’t come on down from God like some message we’re stuck working through; it’s like the aftermath – leftovers that resulted out of a certain sort of confusion going on sometime which actually can get tidied right back up now – I really have faith there can occur some cure that makes that disappear for real in life – one where we let God push us all that way.
When Fear Takes Hold
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I’ve been in situations where fear just kinda takes over, ya know? It’s like my heart’s racing and my mind’s a mess – hard to think straight, even harder to take that first step forward. Reading the Bible, though, I see I’m not the only one – there’s heaps of stories about people who were scared, but they still found a way through.
Those Israelites, Stuck in the Desert
Reading about the Israelites stuck in the wilderness, I notice how fear holds ’em back way too often. Like when they saw those massive giants, fear convinced ’em they were like tiny grasshoppers in comparison.
“And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.” (Numbers 13:33, KJV).
Their fear was so intense that it made ’em doubt what God had promised ’em.
David’s Not Immune, Either
But the Israelites aren’t the only ones to get stuck in fear mode. David – you know, the one God reckons is after his own heart – writes about his fears, as well. Check out what he says in Psalm 55:
“Fear and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me.” (Psalm 55:5, KJV).
I mean, if someone as brave as David has those intense fearful moments, there’s hope for me.
Jesus’ Crew Isn’t Immune, Either
And then there’s Jesus’ team, those guys who were glued to Jesus – even they got a taste of it, too. That time a huge storm rolls in while they’re all in the boat together? Total panic stations.
“And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.” (Matthew 8:25, KJV).
Jesus response? Rock calm as ever – he asks why they’re getting so freaked, they gotta trust the faith.
All these examples, and I realize, fear is a fairly standard part of life, even for all the awesome Jesus-followers out there. Yet, along with that, faith gives us the get up and go to tame our fears – simple in theory, but still mightily challenging in practice.
Trying to Overcome My Fears with a Little Faith and Trust
Figuring out the importance of trusting in God’s way of doing things
Looking back, I still remember the time it hit me that fear was pretty much the reason I wasn’t experiencing life to the fullest. I felt like I was trapped, and it was my own doubts and worries that were keeping me there. Then, I started reading the Bible, and what I found out was that being scared isn’t really from God.
The Bible says,
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7, KJV).
That verse kinda made me realize that fear shouldn’t be my go-to reaction if I’m a child of God. We were given power, love, and a sound mind instead. So, I had to wonder, where does fear come from?
I dug a little deeper and figured out that it’s mostly because we don’t trust God to handle things. If we don’t believe He’s in charge, we try to take control. We start worrying about every possible outcome. The thing is, we can’t control it all.
The role of faith in my struggle with fear
That’s where faith comes in – it’s the opposite of fear, really. Fear says, “Not sure if God’s got my back,” but faith says, “I trust that God knows what’s best.” If I choose to trust in God’s way of doing things, I start seeing my fears differently.
The Bible says,
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28, KJV).
That verse tells me that even when life gets crazy or uncertain, I can trust that God’s working things out for my good. He’s shaping me into who He wants me to be, even when things seem overwhelming.
Stuff the Bible says to help people who are afraid
So, what does the Bible have to say to people who are scared like me? Here are a few things I found that really helped:
- “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10, KJV)
- “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27, KJV)
- “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” (Jeremiah 29:11, KJV)
These verses remind me that I’m not alone in my fears, God is with me, and He’s working it all out. If I try to trust in His way of doing things and His loyalty, I can get past even the toughest fears.
My Walk With Fear and Sin
It’s Like, Does Punishment or God Make Me Fearful?
Sometimes I think about where does this whole fear thing even come from in the Bible… the more scripture I read, though, it seems pretty obvious that it’s connected to when I mess up (aka sin). I mean sinning is scary – not ’cause I’m gonna get smited or whatever, but the fear of what’s gonna happen after is real, and that sense of impending doom is pretty overwhelming, leading me to be kinda anxious most the time.
The Bible’s got this bit that goes,
“Fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18, KJV).
It makes sense to me – we get scared ’cause of sin and stuff, but living that way ain’t healthy, long-term. We need something better.
What Happens When You Let Fear Run Your Life
Problem is, letting fear take control is like opening this whole Pandora’s Box of bad stuff. It’s like… anxiety, depression, even just getting physically sick sometimes, and it makes me do really dumb, impulsive things, which makes everything even worse, y’know?
Then there’s that super famous thing Franklin D. Roosevelt said,
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
I mean he hit the nail on the head, really – it’s the fear that kills you, not what you’re even scared of, half the time.
Getting Over That Fear Hump
So, what’s the plan to beat fear, then? Best I can tell, it’s just being honest with myself (and God, I guess), saying sorry, and trying to be better next time. If I fess up to what I’ve done wrong, and actually try to be better (which is just really, totally huge), and if God’s the real deal, then He’ll bail me out.
The Bible actually says that –
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9, KJV).
…It gives me hope, y’know – forgiveness is out there, and with that comes… not being so scared all the time.
Finding My Way Outta Fear with Jesus
What Jesus Said About Fear and Anxiety
I always wondered, where does all this fear come from, you know? Like the bible says its from all over but whatever. It’s how we deal with it, that’s the important bit. Jesus knew all this, He’s the one who shows us an out.
The bible says
“Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32, KJV).
Those words stick out – I’m not the only one freaking out with fear and all that jazz. Jesus is right there talking straight to my anxiety, telling me don’t be scared.
How The Holy Spirit Helps Us Not Be Afraid
Thing is, getting past fear isn’t exactly easy peasy. We got the Holy Spirit for that, though. Jesus said this spirit would comfort us, be all on our side, and just… be peace.
Like Paul the apostle wrote,
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7, KJV).
That right there is the hope I need – that maybe I don’t have to be all tied up with fear all day every day. The spirit in us isn’t about fear at all; it’s more like… power, and love, and being decently sane.
Jesus’ Promise of Living Forever Without All That Fear
And then you got Jesus’ ultimate promise – we’re talking eternal life here. When we really get that our lives are part of this whole Christ thing… it shifts, you feel? Fear don’t got such a hold no more.
The bible goes,
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16, KJV).
Now this right here just… gets rid of fear for me, ’cause it makes it obvious I’m not in control. It’s not my life that’s on the line; it’s in Jesus’ hands, and no way can any old fear mess that up.
What Do You Think?
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Frequently Asked Questions About Where Does Fear Come From Bible
What does the Bible say about the origin of fear?
To be honest, from what I’ve read, it seems like the Bible’s saying fear started with sin – basically, when we turned our backs on God. I mean, take Adam and Eve, they disobeyed, and next thing you know, they’re hiding and afraid. That’s Genesis for ya.
Is fear a sin according to the Bible?
Personally, I think fear’s just one of those emotions we all have, but the Bible does say we shouldn’t let it rule us. I mean, when we’re all wrapped up in fear, that’s when doubt creeps in and we might start disobeying God – and that’s where sin comes in, if you ask me. For me, it’s about keeping my eyes on God and remembering His love’s stronger than any fear.
How does the Bible say we can overcome fear and anxiety?
I’ve found some pretty cool stuff in the Bible that helps with fear and all that. Like, have you read Philippians 4:6-7? That’s where it tells us to pray, give thanks, and just… trust. And when we do that, it’s like God swaps our fear for peace – His peace. Works for me, anyway.
Matt Turner
I’m Matt, and I love breaking down Bible verses in a way that’s easy to understand and apply to everyday life. My goal is to help you connect with God’s Word and find practical ways to live it out. Whether you’re new to the Bible or just looking for some fresh insights, I’m here to walk with you and share what I’ve learned along the way.