October is drawing to a close, and so is my time thinking about fear. I couldn’t be happier.

I thought this “month of fear” would be a soul-clearing exercise. It has been more soul-clenching than anything. The more I thought about this emotion, the more it haunted me. I think I might have been better off at the beginning of the month.

I avoided the keyboard these four weeks. It was a struggle to write a couple posts each week about getting around fear. The more I thought about fear, the less I wanted to write. I think I freaked myself out more than anything.

The topics on fear are limitless (fear of failure, fear of not being enough, fear of the future, fear of disaster, fear of temptation, fear of death, fear of sin, fear of the unknown, fear of what people think), but when it came down to it, I feel like the solutions could be summed up pretty easily.

You can say all you want about getting past fear, but I’ve found the best way is just to bulldoze through it as fast as you can, ripping a hole right through all the dangerous thoughts and finding a way out.

Way back at the beginning of the month I wrote about post about just saying “no” to fear, and it’s the closest I got to clarity, and I think I know why. Just saying “no” to fear is what God tells us about fear. (Duh).

• Deuteronomy 31:6: Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.
• 1 Chronicles 28:20: David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you.
• Isaiah 41:10: So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
• Isaiah 41:13: For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.
• Luke 1:30: But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.”
• Luke 2:10: But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”
• John 14:27: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
• Romans 8:15: For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “”Abba,” Father.”

In other words:

• Don’t dwell on fear.
• Don’t even give fear a foothold in your heart.
• Fear does no good.
• Thinking about it more doesn’t show you a way out.
• Fear isn’t productive, neither is worry.
• Fear takes our eyes of God, which is exactly why we should recognize that fear is temptation.

Sometimes we like to justify our fear, listing the reasons we should get to worry. Sometimes in the dark of night, we give into fear, letting it stir our minds into a frenzy. Sometimes we confuse care and concern with fear and worry. But as soon as we find that fear taking a hold in our hearts, we must say no to it.

God makes his directives pretty simple: Don’t fear. Don’t worry.

Spending this month looking at fear, searching my heart for all the things that make my heart clench up, wasn’t fun. I’m not sure it was even that beneficial. What I learned in the end was that I should replace all that fear-gazing with God-gazing. Switching my focus from my fears to my God is the one of the only things that helped me. Learning to say “no” to fear-filled thoughts was one of the only other things.

So let’s move on, shall we? Let’s move on to November, the month of gratitude, and in the words of Philippians 4:8, let’s usher in a new mantra, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.”

I have to say, writing this last post about fear is the easiest one I’ve had to write all month. Good night!

“Fear can keep us up all night long, but faith makes one fine pillow.” -unknown author