On Fear of the Unknown

We all struggle with fear of the unknown to a degree. It’s easy to worry, to stress, to think about all the little things in your life that could happen or go wrong. It’s normal to be worried or stressed, so long as that stress is at a healthy level. When you’re overthinking, your brain goes in 1,000 different directions and it does nothing but stress you out. The scenarios you think about become speculation rather than things that might actually happen. Just because of my personality, I overthink things more than I should. So I’m more than familiar with what it’s like to conjecture about all of the things that could go wrong in your life.

But the problem with fear of the unknown (and a big problem of overthinking too) that I’ve realized is that we nearly always place far too much emphasis on the negative things. Rarely, if ever, do we focus on the positives. And you only can realize that when you’re not in a mode of overthinking. But then when something bad happens to us or we’ve hit some kind of a setback, it goes completely out the window and we start stressing all over again.

In any tough situation, we forget about the positive things that are already in our lives. Our family, our friends, our activities and hobbies that we enjoy. Your job that even if it’s not your favorite allows you to earn an income and provide for yourself and allows you the opportunity to spend time with your friends and your family.

You may be worried about the future, but what if you also feel like you’re not where you want to be? Maybe you don’t like your job. Maybe you don’t have a job and you’re looking for one. Maybe you don’t like where you live. Or perhaps there’s another situation in your life where you know you’re not where you want to be.

The reality is that we find ourselves in those types of situations a lot, myself included. Big things and small things, there are always areas where we can and need to improve or do better. But when these kinds of thoughts start running through our heads, we often feel isolated. This is one of the key tactics that the enemy uses to attack us. The enemy wants us to feel isolated, alone, and powerless. And fear of the unknown and the uncertainty that comes with life in general, especially when trying to plan for the future, can definitely make us feel alone. But we have to remember that we’re not alone, and we’re not powerless. The enemy wants to make us think that we’re alone, but we can’t believe the enemy’s lies. Because lies are all the enemy has. And by definition, lies are not true.

So when we’re overthinking, what do we do?

When you’re facing a lot of uncertainty, it’s hard to remember that you’re not alone. But God is always with us. One verse that always sticks out to me any time I’m overthinking things and then sit back and reflect is Jeremiah 29:11

“For I am conscious of my thoughts about you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you hope at the end.” Jeremiah 29:11 BBE

Thoughts of peace. Thoughts that will give us hope. No matter the situation we’re in.

“Yes, though I go through the valley of deep shade, I will have no fear of evil; for you are with me, your rod and your support are my comfort” Psalm 23:4 BBE

God is always with you.

Hopefully these verses encourage you as much as they encourage me when I’m in a situation where I’m facing a lot of uncertainty.