Fear: False Evidence Appearing Real

The enemy uses fear to pull our attention away from the Truth. He throws all kinds of evidence at us that seems to confirm our worst fears. When that happens, tell yourself that FEAR is just False Evidence Appearing Real.

Spy Out the Lies

When Moses and the children of Israel first reached the Jordon River after fleeing Egypt, he sent twelve spies into Canaan to see how they could take the land. Not if they could take the land, but how.

Sadly, ten of the spies returned full of fear:

But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”
— Numbers 13:31-33 (emphasis added)

These ten spies did not actually see any devouring during their tour of Canaan. They didn’t see people being torn apart or crushed like grasshoppers. The did see giants. And their fear of these huge men stirred their imaginations into fear. They let one real life challenge—giants—explode into all kinds of false evidence.

Get Over Yourself

Those spies had a promise from God that He would give them the Promised Land. Their job was to observe and report, not to determine if the task was doable. They had promises to stand on!

God’s promises are for you! His will is for you to be healthy, to have provision, to experience peace of mind. The lies of the enemy will say, “You are not able. It’s not for you.” But God has victory for you, if you’ll only believe.

One of the most convincing ways fear traps us in an overwhelming challenge is by keeping us focused inwardly. We look at our own strength, our own capability, and we know we’re not able. We look at the giants and start imagining every horrible thing they could do to us.

Like those ten spies, we miss the point. It was never going to be the children of Israel taking the Promised Land. It was always going to be God.

1 John 4:4 says, “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

When we doubt that, we’re doubting the power of God inside us. Whoever we are, whatever challenge we face, the power of God is stronger. The only thing holding us back from that Promised Land is our perception because His promises are certain.

Fear Takes the Wheel

Fear will cling to any natural challenge, to any earthly reason for concern, and drive away with it.

Ashley once let fear run wild and take over his imagination. He’d been fixing up a beach buggy, and while it was road legal, it certainly wasn’t road safe. Yet Ashley kept telling Carlie that it was perfectly safe, and she had no reason to worry about him when he went driving.

Then the tables turned. One afternoon, Carlie and her friends took the buggy out for a ride. When Ashley realized that Carlie was driving around in that death trap, fear took over. “Not the buggy!” he thought. All he could think about was the buggy rolled over on the wet road, Carlie’s body splayed out on the ground.

Nothing happened! Everything was fine!

Yet fear latched onto the tiniest piece of natural concern and blew it up into a full-blown panic attack. Fear shoved straight from “Well that’s not very safe,” all the way to “Carlie’s dead and I have three kids to raise all by myself!”

Facts vs. Truth

Now, that fact was that Carlie was driving an unsafe vehicle. But the Truth was that Ashley had nothing to worry about. The God of Heaven was looking out for His dear daughter, Carlie, at every moment.

The facts are real. You don’t have to pretend the facts don’t exist. But you can look to the Truth of the Word of God and know that His Truth is more real than the natural facts.

The fact may be that your bank account doesn’t contain enough funds. But the Truth is that Jesus is the Lord who provides (Genesis 22:14), He supplies all your needs according to His riches in glory (Philippians 4:19), and He gives you an abundance for every good work (2 Corinthians 9:8).

The fact may be that you have flu-like symptoms and can’t smell anything. But the Truth is Jesus is the Lord who heals you (Exodus 15:26), He sent His word and healed you (Psalm 107:20), and the same power that raised Christ from the dead is in you giving life to your body (Romans 8:11).

The fact may be that you’re so overwhelmed with guilt you struggle to get out of bed. Maybe you messed up and now your spouse or your kids won’t talk to you. It might be accurate to say that you failed. But the Truth is that Jesus is the Lord who is present with you (ref), He restores your soul (Psalm 23:3), and the peace of Christ guards your heart and mind (Philippians 4:7).

Reject the False Evidence

You can reject the false evidence of fear. You can shut out the roars of the enemy. Refuse to listen to the lies. Stop meditating on circumstances that stir up fear. Don’t tolerate fear as your state of being.

Right before he described the enemy as a roaring lion, Peter wrote, “Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully” (1 Peter 5:7 AMPC).

Rest in the total intimate care of the Lord. Throw all those fears, anxieties, worries, and concerns at His feet. Just fling them at Him like you’re plucking a bug off your shirt, yelling “Get it off me!” Call out fear for what it is: False Evidence Appearing Real.

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