10 Bible Verses of Encouragement in times of Fear

We all need encouragement and the best place to go is to the Bible.

In this blog Post I have tried to gather some Bible passages or Bible verses which will encourage us all in times of fear.

I do believe that we should not just grab a verse and read it on its own but we should always lift our bibles and read a passage of scripture to make sure that we know the real meaning and context of each of the verses we are putting our trust in. 

I pray that you will do the same and only use this list to guide you as to where you may find help.

So here are 10 Bible verses or short passages for us to turn to in times when we are afraid

1.   Isaiah 41 v 10 & 13     

God truly is the one who wants to encourage us in times when we are afraid or when a fear (just or unjust) comes upon us or in those times when we do not even really know what we fear.

God always knew that we would need reassurance against fears and He prepares us and is ready to help us through the fear.

God also knew that this fear we would face would be very real to us but He also knew that His presence was the answer to our fear and He wants us to know that as we rest in His presence we do not need to fear anything.

We find this in Isaiah 41 v 10

Here His instruction is not to Fear,  

• Why - because He is with us.
• Why - because He is our God.
• Why - because He will strengthen us.
• Why - because He will Help us.
• Why - because He will hold us in His Hand.

Then a few verses later He repeats Himself

We find this in Isaiah 41 v 13

Here His instruction again is not to Fear,  

• Why - because He is our God.
• Why - because He will hold our right Hand.
• Why - because He will Help us.

When God says something we need to listen and take heed to His Words but when He repeats something it makes it all the more important.

2.   Joshua 1 v 9

    

God is gracious to us and knows that we forget what He has told us or lapse in our faith so we need to be reminded of what He has said He will do as this verse states

Not only is God with us now so we should not fear but He is going to always be with us wherever that may be so should never need to fear.

3.   Matthew 10 v 28 

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul

Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Here we have two kinds of fear

Fear of Man and the influence of evil

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul

Fear of God who is Good

Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Fear of God

 is awe of God,

 respect of God,

 admiration of God

 and

 believing that He is in control of everything

The Fear of God is the right type of fear because it leads us to God.

I previously wrote a Dose of Encouragement about the Right Type of Fear it's called  A Good Kind of Fear

4.   Psalm 23 v 4 

This psalm is a Psalm of great comfort to us because if we read it carefully and thoughtfully we will see that the Psalmist is acknowledging how God is with us in everything.

No matter what situation we are in we need not be afraid.

Even when we feel we may be near death:

 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

He will be with us and we will not need to fear any evil.

You may want to look further into Psalm 23

Here in the series Pondering the Psalms

5.   Psalm 34 v 4    

Oh how good it is to know that God knows all our fears, listens to us and hears us when we are afraid and on top of that is loving towards us in His attitude to us in our fear because He cares enough to bring us through whatever the situation is.

God asks one thing of us when we are afraid - seek Him.

God does two things for us when we are afraid & seek Him - He hears us & He delivers us

6.   Psalm 27 v 1

In this verse God is 3 things to the Psalmist and because of these 3 things the Psalmist has the confidence that he need not be afraid of anyone.

The Lord is his Light

The Lord is his Salvation

The Lord is the Stronghold of his life

Think carefully and consider do we believe like the Psalmist that the Lord is these things to us?

If we do then just like the Psalmist we can say

"Who can we possibly fear?"

7.   Psalm 56 v 3

We are only human and no matter what happens we will act and think in human ways.

So because of this we will often fear when a situation comes upon us but the important thing is not to stay engulfed in that fear but to remember that in that situation we can trust in God and then to act on that knowledge.

8.   1 John 4 v 18

Love is the opposite of fear.

Love is stronger than fear.

Hence where there is Love there can be no fear and God is Love and His Love is the perfect love that cannot be marred by anything even fear

God has love in store for us in which fear can have no stronghold nor cause us any harm.

9.   Deuteronomy 31 v 8

Not only will God not leave us alone when we are afraid but He also will never forsake us.

We are the ones who run away from God yet He is always there going in front of us and walking beside us.  He is prepared for what is going to happen because He knows everything.

10.   2 Timothy 1:7

Where does our feelings of fear come from?

They certainly do not come from God because His Word is clear to tell us this.

Not only is God not the author of fear He is instead the one who cares so much that He wants to give us His Spirit which is the Spirit of Power and the Spirit of Love and the Spirit of a sound mind.

God never adds to our Fear - He adds better qualities to our life.

God gives us the opposite of fear.

When we keep close to Him and trust in Him we will look at things in the right way and witness His Power and His Love and His right thought for us.

Sunday Scripture - 2 Timothy 1:7

Sunday Scripture is just simply a thought or two on a Bible verse that may have struck me afresh or maybe for the first time or has always been special to me.

Today I am looking at 2 Timothy 1:7

Looking at verse 6 of this chapter we may be tempted to ask if Timothy had a fear of rejection in the use of the gifts or had he been hurt in some way in the past and was now timorous of exercising the gifts again.

Perhaps this was not the reason Paul felt he had to specifically write this, it could simply have been that Timothy had not made a conscious effort to be seeking to be used by the Spirit or he had let the gift lapse?

But then we read verse 7  and we do seem to have the indication that there was a worry or fear of some kind holding Timothy back.

Remembering that God is not going to give us something that is bad for us we can agree that He is not going to put fear into our lives but power, love and a sound mind instead.

Then that would lead us to 

"What gift was Paul referring to?"

If we simply looked at verse 7 on it's own would we come to the right meaning?

As usual the verses in this chapter should be read together to give the right context

5 when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. 6 Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God,

Verse 5 points us to the faith that Paul had witnessed in Timothy and we can presume that Paul was not mentioning this without a reason.

Verse 6 points us to the fact that Timothy has a gift from God and he is responsible for how he uses that gift.

Verse 7 points us to what God has given to Timothy which reminds him of how he has been equipped by God.

Look at the order of these three things:

1. Power - to combat fear and timidity 
2. Love - to bring care for people
3. Sound Mind - to bring clarity 

but then we must ask the question "What does Timothy need these three things for?"

To be a good Pastor 

to do the job he has been given to do

Verse 9 points us to what the people need.  The Good News of the Gospel and the building up of their faith.

Perhaps then the gift Paul refers to is one which is important for Timothy to have in order to continue to be a good pastor.  A gift that he knows about and Paul knows about but we do not necessarily have to know about. 

Can this be related to us?

Yes, we must always be equipped to do the job God wants us to do.

What has God given us?

What has God given us?                     The Right Spirit.

What should we give God?                 Faith.

I think this passage is not just about Timothy;
 it is about how God has equipped him and the faith he must use in order to share the Gospel.

A Good Kind of Fear - A Dose of Encouragement

I have never forgotten that day.

The day when I asked the question and my mother didn't really know how to answer me.

Have you ever been afraid?

I was lying in bed supposed to be going to sleep, younger than 9 years old (but not sure how much younger), when I decided to call her.

In my memory it was not dark in the bedroom because she didn't need to put the light on when she opened the door, so it must have been springtime or summertime when it stays lighter later in the evenings in Northern Ireland even up until 11pm.

So darkness had nothing to do with my fear.

It was a simple question I wanted to ask her but she did not find the answer so simple.

I was the youngest in the family, although in saying that there were only the two siblings, my sister and I, and she was 10 years older than me so I was always referred to as the wee one and often (I felt) not taken too seriously by my parents, sister and grandmother who lived with us.

You see that evening as I lay there I was afraid, there was something I just did not want to happen, something I could not imagine happening but I needed to know more about it.

I was thinking about death,

but it was not "death" that scared me.  

Possibly I wasn't really old enough to consider how people died and that there may be tragic events or illnesses to lead up to their deaths because none of that was on my mind.

The fear I had was not about my body but about that part of me, that part inside, the part I could not imagine ever not being in existence.  You know the part of me that was actually doing this thinking. The part that could experience this fear.  The part that could understand some things but not all things.

When I asked her what would happen to that part of me when I would die she was quiet with no immediate reply. Then she told me not to worry about anything to do with death because I was "too young" to be thinking about it.

Now I don't remember all the details or how much time elapsed from then until the time when I knew I wanted/needed to get saved but I do know that my sister always got bible notes to read each day and she decided to get a children's version so that she could read the bible passage to me and then the notes.  To make sure that I was paying attention she would then ask me questions about the passage.  However even though she was taking care of a need I had to know about Jesus and read God's Word she also declared I was "too young" when I told her I wanted to get saved.

Thankfully I was not overcome by this fear of what would happen to what I felt was the "real me" after death, however it was always there drawing me in to ponder over it.

We need to be thankful for the fear that leads us in the right direction

I may not even have known to pray about this but God knew the "real me" and He was in control and not too long after this He led me to the night when I was not told I was "too young" but instead I was encouraged to pray asking forgiveness and accepting that Jesus had died in my place so that I could live.

Yes me the "real me" could live forever.

I was afraid when I was young, but I didn't remain afraid, God has taken that fear away.

I still do not understand everything about what it will be like after death but I have no need to fear because I know for a certainty that the "real me" will remain and be transformed in the presence of Jesus.  Because I have come to realise that not all fear is bad.

I came to realise that not all fear is bad

We need to be thankful for the fear that leads us 

in the right direction

 because

 it's a good kind of fear.

The Rainbow or The Storm? - A Dose of Encouragement

I saw this phrase the other day


Count your rainbows not your thunderstorms.

But I passed on by without taking too much notice at the time.

Then later it just sprung back into my mind but I could not remember where I had seen it - if you know please leave me a comment so I can give the right credit to it.

It got me thinking about how we tend to go along

  smiling at the rainbows 

    and

  frowning at the storms.

Then at times we may even forget to truly acknowledge the rainbows but
      we get upset by the thunderstorms,
           we get enraged at the thunderstorms,
                we get cowered down by the thunderstorms.

Who or what has the power over us?

Is it the thunderstorm? - No!

God has the power over the thunderstorm as well as the rainbow.

So why do we get down?

In our Sunday School this month I have prepared the Theme of the Authority of Jesus and the 5 weeks are

 Authority of Jesus
       over Sin
            over Disease
                 over Nature
                      over Death
                           over Salvation


After having worked on this there is no way I should get enraged over natural thunderstorms or the storms the devil tries to throw at me.


I should face them through with the power of  Jesus

We need to remember the rainbow of promise that comes out of the storm.

We need to look past the storms to the One who has the authority and power over the storms.

The One who has given us all the encouragement we need in His Word.

       The One who has promised to never leave us

              The One who has promised to walk beside us

                     The One who has promised to hold us in His hands

                            The One who has promised to keep us safe

                                   The One who has said to us "Fear Not"

God will not let the storms defeat us when we keep our trust in Him.

So let's go along smiling at the storms as well as the rainbows.


Because God's promises are mightier than any fears!

It's God's Love #21

On Sundays I write a short post consisting of a Bible Verse around the topic of God's Love and I would be very pleased if you would come and join me each week.

When God's Love

is in us

there will be no fear

we will not be gripped

by a force that holds us down

but 

we will be enveloped in 

calm & peace

The  only

Perfect Love

comes from

God.



This is the

Love

that sets us

Free.