My son was afraid of bugs when he was little. Flies, grasshoppers, and other sorts of bugs brought fear to his heart. One day I tried to show him that he didn't have to be afraid. I fetched the flyswatter from the house and showed it to him. I told him the flyswatter was for swatting bugs. I then proceeded to show him how he could smash bugs with the flyswatter. I told him when he had the flyswatter those bugs would be afraid of him. When I gave him the flyswatter he turned from a fearful little kid into a fearless bug-smashing vigilante. We went throughout the house together while as he shouted his battle cry, "Smash those buggies".
Something peculiar happened in my son's life that is a reminder to each of us about how faith and fear work. Everything changed when I, his dad, placed something in his hands. He now had something to hang onto that gave him the faith to overcome his fear. Our heavenly Father places something into our hands as well. He gives us the sword of the Spirit, which is the Bible (Ephesians 6:17). It is what we have been given to hang onto. It energizes our faith and lets us overcome our fears.
There are many things in life that may cause us to live in fear, but that isn't the way God wants us to live. He wants us to live by faith. He places His Word into our hands and gives us the ability to fight back. Take the Word of God in your hand and watch how it will transform you. Watch how fear gives way to faith. When you are submitting to God's Word and standing against your fears with boldness the devil goes running (James 4:7). When you hear His Word, your faith grows (Romans 10:17).
Has fear taken you captive? Has the enemy been creeping and crawling around your life trying to get you off track? Has Satan been buzzing in your ear, trying to fill your mind with lies? Take what your heavenly Father has for you. Hold the flyswatter of the Spirit, that is the Word of God, firmly in your hand. Then smash fear and the schemes of Satan like the pests that they are.