Fear of many things has not been my friend in life.

But it has been an occupant in my heart for a very long time.

I suffered some abuse as a young child, and the trauma from that abuse made me feel unsafe. That feeling led to a great deal of anxiety in my little body.

That anxiety carried into my adulthood. Sometimes I get anxious and don’t even know why..

Can this kind of serious anxiety be overcome? Will it ever stop?

I don’t know for sure since I still struggle with it.

But fear of man is an issue that may be overcome by a fear of the Lord God Almighty.

Fearing God was the topic of our Sunday’s sermon on April 27, 2025, entitled, “What are you so afraid of?” The sermon covered Exodus Chapter One in the Bible.

In Exodus Chapter One, the Israelites were suffering greatly from the oppression of the Egyptians, yet the Israelites still increased mightily in number.

This population overload led to Pharaoh’s order to the Hebrew midwives to kill every Hebrew male born.

The Pharaoh was propagating a genocide. His fear of losing the Israelites and their growing population led to a desire for evil.

The midwives did not obey Pharaoh. Verse 17 reads, “But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live.”

God blessed them for their wise choice and gave them families.

The contrast in the fear of Pharaoh with the fear of the midwives shows me that the fear of man leads to evil, but the fear of God leads to blessing.

But can the fear of God over the fear of man dissolve severe anxiety?

I don’t know, but I’m hoping that it can.

So how can I develop a fear of God over the fear of man?

Sunday’s sermon showed three things to answer this question:

Find God-fearing friends. Know God-fearing facts. Cultivate God-fearing faith.

God-fearing friends give accountability in critical decision-making. The Hebrew midwives probably leaned on each other for support in defying the Pharaoh.

God-fearing facts such as knowing what God is pleased with can lead to good choices. Studying the Bible to know God better can lead to a healthy fear of God.

A God-fearing faith in a heart that prays can lead to peace.

A reverence, an honor, a deep allegiance, a reverent awe of God will not make me shrink back into a God-phobia, but, in essence, will strengthen my heart to make wise choices.

Which, as Exodus One shows, will lead to blessing.

The ultimate alignment of my fears to what God says about them might help me when I feel overwhelming anxiety.

So I guess the question to ask myself when I have anxiety is the title of the sermon, “What are you so afraid of?”

If I can answer that question during a time of crisis, maybe I can then apply the fear of God to my crisis situation, with the comparable question, “What does God say about it?”

Then I can seek God first. And Jesus can carry my fear. I just have to wait and see.

—Ann Elizabeth Yeager