Our daily living is packed with moments that make us feel happy and sad, and these sad moments can outgrow in our minds, bringing fear and uncertainty of the future.
Times can feel hard. How not to be afraid when times are hard becomes an essential to us and our anxiety filled moments.
The love of God has always provided us the relief.
The balm to this pain by God is in the Holy Bible and the powerful message of Tobit that speaks of how fearing God and embracing spiritual wealth is the key to lasting peace in our anxious world.
A Biblical Guide on How Not to Be Afraid, Inspired by Tobit
“Life is tough” is a common phrase that we hear almost every day.
We have each lived moments to utter the above phrase.
We all know the feeling. That coldness of heart when the doctor calls with the test results.
The hesitation when you look at your bank account as your mind stays filled with thoughts of the expenses ahead for the month.
The restless anxiety of your child’s future or your own marriage that seem to be on shaky grounds suddenly.
Fear is a universal human experience, it’s like a constant companion.
How not to be afraid in a world of uncertainty and on the face of very real problems is highly desired and wished to be known by one and all.
As Christians, we’re often told and read the phrase “Do not be afraid” countless times in the Scriptures.
But does it affect, console or strengthen us anyways.
Does these words feel to us just mere moral statements than a practical help, how not to be afraid when in these moments of uncertainty and fear is a quest for each life that lives.
Our Creator in Christ knows it all, just what affects us and answers our anxiety, strengthens us in our weak moments and He does by signs and His own words that we find in the Holy Bible, words written by humans but surely inspired by God.
One such inspired works for our deliverance we find God acting on and is a hidden gem from the Old Testament of the Holy Bible: The Book of Tobit…
The Book of Tobit is a story of faith, family, and God’s guiding providence. It follows Tobit, a righteous man who becomes blind, and his son Tobias, who is sent on a journey. Guided by the angel Raphael, Tobias finds a wife, Sarah, who is freed from a tormenting spirit. Tobias returns home, heals his father’s blindness, and restores the family’s joy. The book highlights prayer, charity, obedience, and God’s protection over those who trust Him.
The story introduces us to two righteous people paralyzed by their circumstances.
Their simultaneous cries represent our deepest fears: the fear of suffering without purpose, of a future without hope, and that our prayers are hitting a silent ceiling.
Now do the above words relate for our times.
The fear surely can still be a lack of meaning or purpose in life, which can be experienced by anyone regardless of their material wealth and financial state.
It can be a social exclusion. Our fears are so many.
How not to be afraid for a Christian following the teachings of the Holy Bible, offers a key, an understanding of living a life of peace in a world of chaos, the command to release fear, the redefinition of true wealth, and a search for truth that gives us eternal joy and peace and that is found in a God-centered life.
The words of Tobit from the Bible can be a profound truth and highly relatable for any generations and time as fear as an emotion is real and associated with every life. It is a natural response to a perceived threat.
When Tobit, who has lost his property, his status, and his physical sight, tells his son how not to be afraid, he is speaking from a place of trust, hope and faith.
There is a deep sense of wisdom that lives for us also today that the “circumstances that we see is not the ultimate reality, the ultimate reality is the God that we cannot see, but God surely is holding on to us.
There is a lesson for us each on how not to be afraid that we can learn from the book of Tobit.
How not to be Afraid: Voice Your Fear to God
The world we live in philosophies to always remain positive and not to voice out your fear and negatives.
But the world of Christian faith teaches “how not to be afraid” thus do not suppress your fears and negatives rather voice them out, lament them out.
The first lesson from Tobit teaches us just how to voice it out in prayers. Speak them out to God.
We find that both Tobit and Sarah were not hiding their grief and pains, rather they each poured out their despair and anguish.
Tobit prays,
“Command that I now be released from my distress… For it is better for me to die than to live” (Tobit 3:6)
And Sarah weeps and begs,
“Look upon me with favor and show me mercy… I have heard the reproach attached to me” (Tobit 3:15)
And as they each prayed, what was the result, the consequence of their lamenting in hope before God, (Tobit 3:16) reveals …
At that very moment, the prayers of both of them were heard in the glorious presence of God. (Tobit 3:16)
Their fear, when prayed before God, became a dialogue, their hope, and self-reliance on God.
God loves you, He will not just listen to your sufferings, He will work on them.
It is for us to bring these fears and sufferings from the shadows of our heart and into the light of God’s presence.
How not to be afraid in your moments of suffering, ask Jesus. He will save you.
Your Armor of Protection: You Are Not Alone
God doesn’t just listen, He will act. He dispatches a response.
What happens next, is the most beautiful truths in the story of Tobit.
The archangel Raphael is sent to heal them. But he doesn’t arrive in heavenly glory like the archangel Gabriel had appeared to Mary to announce the birth of Jesus.
The archangel Raphael comes disguised as a fellow traveler named Azariah.
When Tobit’s son, Tobias, sets out on a dangerous journey to retrieve money, he needs a guide. Azariah offers to accompany him.
Never did once, Tobias, the son of Tobit realise that the person walking with him, his companion was no mere mortal but the mighty angel, sent by God to guide, protect, and provide the very solutions to their family crises.
This is the core of how not to be afraid. Our troubles and fears often wear us out physically, and also mentally, screaming to us a lie “You’re doomed, you’re alone in your crisis.”
The story of Tobit instead promises to us that “You are never alone’
If not an angel. God will plan persons around you to get you out of your crisis, it can be your family members, a friend, or even a stranger. God’s ways are never known to us.
Jesus is walking with you.
God’s presence comes through the comfort of the Holy Spirit, the forms might be the wisdom in a friend’s counsel, the encouragement and promise when reading the word of God from the Holy Bible, or the sudden peace and wisdom that now dwells in you that surpasses your normal understanding.
The difficult journey ahead, the chemotherapy, the difficult conversation, the financial struggle, we can now face them all.
How not to be afraid is answered when with God as our companion, we now do not travel with a map, but with a divine guide in Christ.
We walk now the same path that we dreaded, not that it has become less scary, but because we are now not walking alone.
Taking the Next Faithful Step: Trusting God like Tobias
Tobias can be an inspiration to us, the young man who stepped forward in obedience even when the road ahead seemed uncertain.
He didn’t wait for every answer before moving, he simply trusted God with the next faith-filled step.
What can you do and how not to be afraid in your moments of stress.
Have faith, faith can move mountains (Matthew 17:20)
Pray to God, surrender all to Him, your fears, anxieties, future, your own limitations and shortcomings.
So choose prayer over panic, surrender all your burdens who’s promised you relief…
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)
It’s a promise.
Also apologize or confess your sins and wrongdoings where healing is needed.
In the end it’s your own peace that you need.
These small quiet steps become powerful when offered to God.
God remains the same that guided Tobias through danger, companionship, and blessing. He will guide you too.
You’re now surer of your tomorrow when you trust God today.
In the story of Tobit in the end there was healing, joy, restored sight, a holy marriage, and a community celebrating God’s goodness.
So every day amidst your fears, live the path of honest prayer and surrender and have the belief of the presence of God as our companion.
Just as God in Tobit, heard simultaneous prayers from different cities, and who sent an angel to guide the journey, is alive and active in our lives too.
Let God meet you there in your troubles, anxieties, difficulties, and where you are asking Him “How not to be afraid”.
He will save you, all because Jesus love you.
