Is Fear Subtly Deciding Your Life for You?

Has Fear Become Our New Normal?

Since having the opportunity to experience overseas missions, I’ve noticed how loud fear feels in America.

Scroll social media for five minutes and you’ll see it.

• Fear of governments.
• Fear of violence.
• Fear of sickness.
• Fear of the future.
• Fear of “what if.”
• Fear of losing comfort.
• Fear of losing control.

I live it. I understand it. I'm affected by it.

We live in a world constantly feeding anxiety. Every headline, every argument, every endless cycle of breaking news seems designed to keep people unsettled.

Fear has become normal.

 Scripture Became a Mirror

I’ve spent these last three weeks studying through Isaiah, and it has felt less like reading an ancient prophet and more like looking into a mirror.

In Isaiah 7 and 8, Judah was terrified of surrounding nations and political instability. 

Instead of trusting God, they ran toward worldly power for security. 

They trusted alliances, systems, and control instead of God.

And the deeper I studied, the more I realized how relevant that still is today.

One of the biggest things Isaiah exposed in me was this:

Fear pushes people toward compromise, but faith trusts that God remains in control even when circumstances look unstable.

I’m not saying we ignore reality or stop being wise. I just don’t think fear is supposed to be what drives us anymore.

The only fear that should drive us is the fear (reverence) of God.

Joy That Didn’t Depend on Comfort

I keep thinking about that while reminiscing about the feeding programs in both Africa and Guatemala, watching kids laugh and smile over simple food that many of us would probably overlook.

There was joy there.

Not a fake “everything is perfect” kind of joy either.

Life is still hard in many ways. There’s real struggle, uncertainty, and pain.

But there was also a dependence on God and a closeness with one another that challenged me.

It made me realize how easy it is for us to keep chasing comfort while still feeling restless, anxious, and overwhelmed.

Meanwhile the people who have every reason to fear, celebrated God's provision that day with joy. 

More Convenience, More Anxiety

This is not true of all, but many of us here in America are surrounded by convenience and comfort, yet we still carry so much anxiety and fear every day.

You have heard it before: We are more "connected" than ever, yet more anxious and depressed than ever. 

That’s not me judging anyone either. 

it convicts me more than anything.

Tangible Way to Combat Fear and Anxiety

This Sunday at church, the message was about anxiety (I love how God connects all of our studies), and Amy, our director of Giving Basics, shared something that really stood out to me:

Fear and anxiety begin losing their grip when we stop living completely focused on ourselves.

When life becomes:

• me,
• my safety,
• my failures,
• my insecurities,
• my comfort,
• my control,
• my future…

fear gets louder.

But when we begin serving others, praying for others, helping others, encouraging others, and stepping into someone else’s pain, fear fades.

We eventually stop staring inward all the time.

I think that’s part of why mission matters so deeply.

I'm not just talking about overseas missions. 

Mission starts in our families, our neighborhoods, and our cities.

I’m talking about the way we live when mission becomes more than a trip.

Because mission moves us outward.

The Hidden Formation of Fear

Isaiah kept reminding me:

What we fear most will shape who or what we trust.

I realized how easy it is to say I trust God while still letting fear subconsciously influence so many of my decisions.

And I think this rings true for a lot of us right now.

Many of us consume fear constantly until eventually it starts shaping us more than we even realize.

When fear, anxiety, and self-preservation drive people, they don’t just shape individual lives...

they eventually shape the culture around them too.

True Security

But Isaiah reminds us that even when the world feels chaotic, God is still on the throne.

That truth should change how we live, love, serve, and respond to the world around us every day.

• It changes whether we isolate ourselves or step into someone else’s pain.

• It changes whether fear makes us pull inward or whether love pushes us outward.

• It changes whether we live constantly trying to protect our comfort, or whether we’re willing to be available for God to use us.

When we truly believe God is still on the throne, we stop living like fear has the final word.

Revelation

Unstable times aren’t always bad, because they have a way of revealing where our trust actually is.

One theme from my Isaiah studies keeps replaying in my mind:

The things we trust instead of God often become the very floods that overwhelm us.

If you really stop and think about it, that’s a powerful and revealing statement.

Because so often the things we run to for protection—control, comfort, security, and self-preservation—end up feeding the very fear we were trying to escape.

Deceiving Ourselves

Sometimes fear sounds noble because we tell ourselves we’re just trying to protect our family or keep everyone safe.

But if we’re honest, that can sometimes be a way of covering our need for control.

One of the best ways we can serve the people around us—including our own family—is by not allowing fear to shape our lives.

Surrender = Transformation

A real encounter with God has a way of exposing us, transforming us, and then pushing us outward toward other people.

That’s exactly what happened to Isaiah.

He saw the holiness of God, became aware of his own condition, was transformed by grace, and then responded:

“Here am I. Send me.”

Perhaps that’s exactly what many of us need again.

Surrender.

The kind that still says:

“Here am I. Send me.”

• I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences, feel free to leave a comment below. 
• Enjoyed this post? Subscribe now for more insightful content.