The Antidote to Fear

Posted on by Jennifer Arimborgo

It’s audio devo day!

Where does fear come from? What Scriptural secret can we find that sends the spirit of fear running? Today we launch a new series for our Friday audio devos to explore this matter. Get comfy, snuggle into the Lord’s presence, and get ready to be blessed as you listen here:

(Know someone else that needs to hear this today? You can either share today’s blog link with them, or look up my Feeding on Jesus podcast for sharing and subscribing. You’ll find it at these links on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and most other podcast platforms, with episodes identical to these audio devos!)

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“Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do, and don’t live in dread of what frightens them. Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear” (Isa. 8:12-13, NLT).

During one of the most difficult seasons of my life, Holy Spirit made this Scripture His rhema to me. He spoke it to me personally. It became like a lifesaver ring to cling to in the ocean. It kept me from drowning.

There was a problem, though. Through it, He was instructing me not to fear and not to dread. And there was so much that was scary during that time. There was so much in my natural circumstances to be afraid of. There was so much about the uncertainty of the future that lent itself to a sense of dread, dread that wanted to sit over me heavily and tie my stomach in knots.

So how to follow His instructions? This conundrum presented the perfect opportunity for the Lord to teach me something new. Holy Spirit pointed out that this Scripture itself gives the answer: “He is the one you should fear.” From that moment on, He began to train me in understanding the fear of the Lord. I want to share with you what He has taught me. I know it will make all the difference for you, as it has for me.

I wonder, though… are you like me, and never felt a strong personal connection with this concept? Of course, having grown up in church, I was quite familiar with the phrase, “the fear of the Lord.” I had heard pulpit explanations that it meant having a profound reverence for the Lord. Mentally, I would acknowledge that I do indeed revere Him with my whole heart. But that’s about as far as I got with it. Can you relate?

How, then, does this concept help you and me stand against terrible onslaughts of fear and dread? How does fearing the Lord make us strong in the face of intense adversity? Well, my friend, that is exactly what we are going to dive into in this new podcast series. Holy Spirit wants to unpack this for us in a brand new way.

Let’s start by taking a closer look at the concept of fear. Why would you fear something? What would cause you to be afraid of it? It basically boils down to two factors. One, whatever that something is, it seems to potentially be able to hurt you. And two, whatever it is, it seems to be more powerful than you. So you probably would not be able to prevent it from hurting you.

It’s bigger than you. You can’t control it. So you fear it.

What about this, though? What if the thing that is bigger than us is God Himself? What if His power working on our behalf is infinitely bigger than what is coming against us? What is the love that drives His actions is immeasurably stronger than anything that hates us? What if the radiance of His being is incalculably mightier than all the darkness in the universe? What if the One who is in us is inestimably greater than the one who is in the world?

Once we begin to perceive these truths, truly, deep-down-in-the-marrow-of-our-bones perceive them, that, my friend, that is where the fear of the Lord begins. The fear of the Lord is to be impressed by how much bigger God is than anything else that exists.

Let’s look at our Scripture again. “Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble. He will keep you safe.” Does that seems like a contradiction? “He is the one you should fear… He will keep you safe.” After all, usually we fear things exactly because they threaten our safety, and here He promises to guarantee our safety, quite the opposite! But you know, this Scripture is not a contradiction. Instead, its two phrases compliment and explain each other wonderfully.

The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is big enough to keep you safe. Those other things that seem bigger than you and therefore scary? They are termites in His presence. They are dust in the wind before the blast of breath from His nostrils. They are nothing before Him.

So instead, fear Him. Be in awe of His bigness. Be in awe of His holiness, of His otherness. Be astonished by the way He sits enthroned upon the circle of the universe. Be stunned by the way His enemies flee before Him in abject terror when He reveals Himself. He is the One who should make you tremble. If you truly see Him for who He is, this will be your spontaneous response.

Remember this. Fear lies. Fear tells you that it’s big and strong enough that you should be impressed. You shouldn’t. Refuse to be impressed. Fear tells you that it can harm you. But it can’t. You are in the hands of the One who rules over everything. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords assures you, “If anyone attacks you, it will not be my doing. Whoever attacks you will be defeated by you” (Isa. 54:15, GW).

The One who created and sustains everything is backing you up. So what is the antidote to the spirit of fear? The fear of the Lord. When you fill your inner visual field with His majesty, fear’s lying voice recedes into the background and fades away.

That is what Holy Spirit trained me to do during that painful season I mentioned to you at the beginning of this episode. He taught me to intentionally step into the fear of the Lord as the way to send the spirit of fear running. He trained me to put this instruction into practice: “Nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. The Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow…” (Isa. 8:12-13, NKJV).

To hallow means to set apart, to lift up, to exalt as holy. Here’s what Holy Spirit would instruct me to do. As I would actively train my focus on Jesus, enthroned above all else, I would begin to exalt Him. I would lift my voice and sing with everything in me, looking at Him there, focusing on the way He was far above everything that I was facing. In this way, my heart became impressed by His glorious majesty. Everything would come into perspective. My enemies became tiny ants far, far below Him.

Every time I repeated this exercise, fear lost more and more space in my life. And you know what? Everything fear whispered to me about my future during that intense season of my life was a lie. None of it came true. Every last threat was empty. This is why the Lord instructs us, “…Do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled” (1 Peter 3:14, NKJV). You know what else? The enemy doesn’t even know the future. Unlike God, he has not been there yet. He has no accurate way of predicting it to you.

But the One who holds the universe in the palm of His hand knows what your tomorrow holds. And He’s got you. Be impressed by Him. Not by His tiny enemies. He is the right One to fear. And He will keep you safe.

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Is the fear of the Lord a concept that is dear to your heart? If so, how did this come to be the case for you? What additional insight has God given you on the subject?

24 thoughts on “The Antidote to Fear”

  2. Reblogged this on Zero Lift-Off and commented:
    Sister in Christ Jesus Jennifer! I totally love how the Lord has brought our thoughts and hearts into alignment in understanding His word while witnessing our Glorious Father’s will unfold before us!

    I’ve seen far too much lip service and pretend Christianity at work in this now most deceptive rebellious world shaping up for hell on earth as so many serve the beast not even aware or don’t care!

    “5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” 2 TIMOTHY 3:5

    Isaiah 29:13 “And the Lord said, For as much as this people draw nigh unto me , and with their mouth and with their lips to honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men which hath been taught them.”

    I know this can be a time of awakening but sadly multitudes will not; even with the Warning to come, many have eyes and do not see and ears that do not hear!

    I wrote this just this week which fits your discussion! This comparative inspiration of His word reveals how God’s Holy Spirit is showing us what to see and hear! And thank you Jennifer!
    God bless you and yours! 🙏🕊✝️🕊🙏

    Brother in Christ Jesus,
    Lawrence Morra III

    Oh God Does Have a Wrath!

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    1. Praise the Lord, I am so glad to hear that Holy Spirit is speaking to your heart in a way that confirms encourages. It is wonderful how He is so consistent with Himself! Thank You Jesus! And thank you so much also for the reblog 🙂

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  3. From The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame, Rat and Mole approach Pan on the island.
    “‘Rat,’ he found breath to whisper, shaking, ‘Are you afraid?’
    ‘Afraid?’ murmured the Rat, his eyes shining with unutterable love. ‘Afraid? Of Him? O, never, never! And yet – and yet – O, Mole, I am afraid.’”

    While we may take comfort in Father being our Abba, as Christ said, yet when Jesus appeared to John on the Isle of Patmos, he trembled and even fell to worship an angel, so impressive are heavenly beings. (The angel, of course, forbade it. 😉)
    But such as the story is told, we would do well to have some “fear of Him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell.”

    There is a respect among the Heavenly hosts such that even “angels, though greater in might and power [than demons], do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord.” How much more should we “fear the LORD who made Heaven and earth?” Great encouragement, Jennifer. c.a.

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    1. Thank you, C.A.! What a wonderful quote. I recently read the Wind in the Willows to my youngest, and we both enjoyed it a lot. And also thank you so much for the pertinent Scriptures that compliment this discussion richly! Many blessings to you my brother 🙂

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  4. The fear which is cast out by DIVINE LOVE or as is quoted God has not given us a Spirit of FEAR but of Power. Love and a sound mind. 2 Tim. 1:7 is this same drawing of LOVE which enables us to cry Abba Father and KNOW we are His Child.
    When the Holy Spirit is free in our lives to be President and not just resident HIs Wisdom always guides and warns us of the ABSOLUTE HOLINESS of our God.
    Father yes as we come ‘as a little Child’ but with the Spirit’s ever Guiding we know we must be in a constant awareness of Our Divine Father’s Holiness and Live according to His Prescribed Rules in the Word, Confession and Repentance and then the awestruck fear of God becomes worship in its purest and holiest sense led by God the Spirit Himself. Grace poured out on us after Calvary can give us indeed the richest and fullest life even in the midst of carnage and death. Life in its absolute FULLNESS. You are LOVED!

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  7. Jennifer I found my wonderful Church 5 years ago. Adam preaches line by line in the Bible. Anyway, my eyes were opened to how to revere the LORD, how to praise HIM and have that healthy fear of HIM. Besides GOD pointing me to scripture that makes me realize what an amazing GOD HE is, my Church family is such an example to me of lifting up JESUS. Adam, our pastor always says we only fly ONE flag in this Church, and that is the flag of JESUS CHRIST.

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  9. The fear of the Lord is so different from the fear that the world speaks of; your phrase “be in awe” of Him is a good way of understanding the difference. As you wrote, Jennifer, the Lord is so much more powerful than anyone or anything else!

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  10. Thank you for these words.

    I think fear of the Lord is something I need to work on. I can get caught trying to lean into my human wisdom and strength to try and solve problems that I don’t have the skills for, or that aren’t for me to solve.

    Merry Christmas to you, and God’s peace to you and family. ❤️

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