“Fear not, little flock, for it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” In His teachings, Jesus was constantly reassuring His jittery sheep that there was no need to be afraid.
A phobia is an exaggerated or irrational fear of some object or situation which exceeds its normal propensity to general fear. In our present era of stressful living, many new types of phobias have been identified:
Agoraphobia – Fear of open places
Ailurophobia – Fear of cats
Androphobia – Fear of men
Autophobia – Fear of being alone
Climacophobia – Fear of climbing stairs
Demophobia – Fear of crowds
Dromophobia – Fear of crossing streets
Genophobia – Fear of sex
Gephyrophobia – Fear of crossing bridges
Gynophobia – Fear of women
Haptephobia – Fear of being touched
Hydrophobia – Fear of water
Hypengyophbia – Fear of responsibility
Hypnophobia – Fear of sleeping
Mysophobia – Fear of contamination
Neophobia – Fear of anything new
Sitophobia – Fear of eating
Toxicophobia – Fear of being poisoned
Xenophobia – Fear of strangers
There is even a Pantophobia – Fear of everything!
Into our world of terrorism and fear, Jesus has come to bring us peace. Christians often do not share their faith simply because they fear being rejected. Paul encourages us to “be bold to speak the Word without fear” (Philippians 1:14).
Read Matthew 10:28 and Hebrews 13:6. Who are we not to be afraid of and why?
Now read Mark 6:50, Mark 5:36 and Acts 18:9 and list the people Jesus told to “Fear not”.
Whatever you are afraid of today, allow God’s Holy Spirit to give you comfort and assurance, for “God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love and of a sound mind” (II Timothy 1:7).