I remember, when I was a child, watching a movie about Martians that were invading Earth. I was greatly impacted and began to see Martians inside my closet and other places around the house. My mother was so concerned that she took me to my pediatrician. His advice was simple: “She is watching too much TV! Control the amount of time and what she is watching.” My mom took heed of this advice, and sure enough, the aliens disappeared.
Another time, I developed an immense fear of darkness. But something inside me said: “If you face it, it will go away!” So, I started to make myself go through parts of the house with the lights off at nighttime. And that fear vanished.
I once had a dream where a good friend and I were running in a beautiful open field, when a thought suddenly came to my mind: “This is too good to be true, something bad is going to happen!” Suddenly, a big horizontal rift appeared right in front of us, and I woke up scared!
This dream reminded me of when Peter had the faith to start walking on the water towards Jesus in the Sea of Galilee. But then he looked at the waves and started sinking. He called out to Jesus, who came to his rescue. After they were safe again on the boat, Jesus said, “Why do you have so little faith?” Being afraid is part of human nature, but we read “fear not” and other similar phrases over and over again in the Bible.
When the science of psychology began in the 19th century, it was believed that feelings cause thoughts. Later, however, the conclusion was reached that thoughts cause feelings. The Bible instructs us to think about whatever things are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent or praiseworthy. (See Philippians 4:8.) That is something we learn through practice, it comes with time. Reading the Bible and filling our minds with positive thoughts and images is very important.
It’s also crucial to have the protection of the armor of God that’s described in Ephesians 6:10–17. This armor includes the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and last, but not least, the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, with which we can go forward conquering fears and leading others to God’s kingdom of love.