Silas
Servant of All
The very real fear you describe about spiritual forces seeking harm is something Scripture does not dismiss, but it also does not leave us without an answer. The deep burden you have carried for two years through medical challenges and hidden pain has a way of magnifying every threat until it seems larger than God Himself. Yet the crucial divide is this: the kind of fear that makes you forget the Lord is the exact opposite of the reverential fear that brings wisdom and safety. When David walked through his own valley of the shadow of death, he declared he would fear no evil, not because the valley was imaginary, but because the Shepherd was with him. The moment the soul is cast down and disquieted, the immediate cure is to remember God.
The enemy uses fear precisely because it drives out faith. They cannot occupy the same space in your heart. When you react out of raw fear, you make decisions that spring from panic rather than from trust. Nehemiah recognized an attempt to strike fear into his heart so he would act rashly and discredit his work. He refused to hide in the temple, not because he was reckless, but because he knew God could protect him right where he stood on the wall. In the same way, do not let the dread of what spiritual powers might do drive your family into a corner of constant panic. Fear will seek to immobilize you, making you flee from a noise only to fall into a pit. Fear of man, or of any created spirit, brings a snare; trusting in the Lord brings deliverance.
Do not confuse the tormenting fear you are battling with the holy fear of the Lord. That true fear is not a cringing phobia waiting for the roof to cave in. It is a clean, awe-filled reverence that hates evil, departs from pride, and brings health to your body and marrow to your bones. This reverential fear is the sum total of knowledge and the starting point of wisdom. It keeps your foot from being taken, and the angel of the Lord encamps around those who have it. While you are staring into the darkness worried about what is coming at you from the mouths of the enemy, remember that a far greater separation is already at work. God knows how to seal His own. No demonic sting can ultimately harm those who belong to Him.
Here is the solid ground: God is your refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, you do not need to fear, even if the mountains crumble into the sea. The earth and all its uncertainties are not the permanent things you are living for anyway. You are not looking for a perfect utopia free of crisis in this life; you are looking for the Holy One who leads you by His light and truth. When you cry out, “Send out Your light and Your truth,” He brings you to His holy hill. If God is your refuge, you cannot fear the roar of the waters or the swelling of the mountains. The same God who will one day gather all the forces of darkness to face His judgment holds your family now.
Do the wise and prudent things. Take care of the physical and spiritual needs of your household with clear-headed love, for that is your duty. But let none of your actions be motivated by the terror of the enemy’s attacks. Where fear would tell you to hide, let faith stand out in the open. Do not let the fear of desolation make you forget that the fear of the Lord is your confidence. Those who hate true knowledge do not choose the fear of the Lord, but you have not rejected His counsel. Call on Him, not as one panicked into a corner, but as one drawing near with a holy, reverential awe that hates the evil arrayed against you and rests in the strength that no wave or whirlwind can touch.
The enemy uses fear precisely because it drives out faith. They cannot occupy the same space in your heart. When you react out of raw fear, you make decisions that spring from panic rather than from trust. Nehemiah recognized an attempt to strike fear into his heart so he would act rashly and discredit his work. He refused to hide in the temple, not because he was reckless, but because he knew God could protect him right where he stood on the wall. In the same way, do not let the dread of what spiritual powers might do drive your family into a corner of constant panic. Fear will seek to immobilize you, making you flee from a noise only to fall into a pit. Fear of man, or of any created spirit, brings a snare; trusting in the Lord brings deliverance.
Do not confuse the tormenting fear you are battling with the holy fear of the Lord. That true fear is not a cringing phobia waiting for the roof to cave in. It is a clean, awe-filled reverence that hates evil, departs from pride, and brings health to your body and marrow to your bones. This reverential fear is the sum total of knowledge and the starting point of wisdom. It keeps your foot from being taken, and the angel of the Lord encamps around those who have it. While you are staring into the darkness worried about what is coming at you from the mouths of the enemy, remember that a far greater separation is already at work. God knows how to seal His own. No demonic sting can ultimately harm those who belong to Him.
Here is the solid ground: God is your refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, you do not need to fear, even if the mountains crumble into the sea. The earth and all its uncertainties are not the permanent things you are living for anyway. You are not looking for a perfect utopia free of crisis in this life; you are looking for the Holy One who leads you by His light and truth. When you cry out, “Send out Your light and Your truth,” He brings you to His holy hill. If God is your refuge, you cannot fear the roar of the waters or the swelling of the mountains. The same God who will one day gather all the forces of darkness to face His judgment holds your family now.
Do the wise and prudent things. Take care of the physical and spiritual needs of your household with clear-headed love, for that is your duty. But let none of your actions be motivated by the terror of the enemy’s attacks. Where fear would tell you to hide, let faith stand out in the open. Do not let the fear of desolation make you forget that the fear of the Lord is your confidence. Those who hate true knowledge do not choose the fear of the Lord, but you have not rejected His counsel. Call on Him, not as one panicked into a corner, but as one drawing near with a holy, reverential awe that hates the evil arrayed against you and rests in the strength that no wave or whirlwind can touch.
