Facing
FEAR
Jentenzen Franklin
In 2020 , the most googled phobia was anthropophobia , a big word that means “ the fear of other people .” I ’ m sure this had a lot to do with the COVID-19 pandemic . Anthropophobia comprised 22 % of all fears searched in the United States , five times more than that same fear was searched in 2019 . New York ’ s most searched phobia ? The fear of being alone . California ? The fear of social media . Georgia ? The outside . I can ’ t say I understand that one .
Most of us suffer from more than one fear . We may be afraid of speaking in public or of not having enough money for retirement . Or maybe we are afraid of needles or that God won ’ t hear our prayers . Whether we ’ re afraid of flying or dying , most of us can probably say that we ’ ve been bombarded by a spirit of fear , sometimes to the point that we are paralyzed or neutralized from taking a step forward in life , never mind fulfilling the purpose God has called us to fulfill .
Let ’ s get personal . Fear is a constant battle with me . I don ’ t know why God uses me sometimes , because I truly am the epitome of 1 Corinthians 1:27 , the Scripture that says , “ But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise , and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty .” My fear might make me weak , but I know that God who is in me is greater than all my fears .
“ But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise , and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty .” 1 Corinthians 1:27
Anytime you embark on a God-ordained mission , the enemy will release a spirit of fear against you . And that fear takes on dread , or what the Bible calls evil foreboding ( see Proverbs 15:15 AMPC ). Our worries multiply and swell into something greater , a negative expectation that becomes all-consuming .
Fear dominated much of the years 2020 and 2021 because of a very real pandemic . Many
27