Calling Fear’s Bluff: How to Break Free of Fear’s Control

My older brother held out his cupped hands. “Hey, look at this.”

He’d bypassed another of my brothers in our backyard garden to bring the surprise to me, so my curiosity was piqued. Was he going to give me something special?

As we stood between sunflowers and cucumbers on the hot day, my brother suddenly opened his hands, thrusting one close to my face.

The hand with the earthworm wriggling on his palm.

Fear leaped my pulse. But, like an expert poker player, I kept every trace of that fear from reaching my face. “So?”

I met my brother’s gaze without a blink.

Never one to admit defeat himself, he smiled as if he’d gotten what he wanted and turned away.

We both knew he hadn’t gotten what he’d wanted—a big, frightened reaction from me.

Growing up in a boy’s world as the only girl with three older brothers, I had many such lessons in the ways of boys (and older siblings in general) and the tricks often played on the girl or youngest child.

While I didn’t enjoy those experiences, God used them for good in that my brothers unintentionally prepared me to face a world of boys and older kids.

I was fully prepared for future incidents when boys outside my family randomly dangled worms in front of my face. I never gave them the screams or scared reactions they hoped for. I instead stood like a statue with a quirked eyebrow that condemned them for thinking worms were frightening at all.

You see, I learned early on that all these attempts to scare me were actually attempts to control me. If a boy could scare me and cause the kind of response he wanted on cue, he had, at least in that one area, control over me.

Thankfully, I saw through such ploys early on, sometimes with help from my wise mom. Essentially, these boys were bluffing to get control over me.

They didn’t actually think the worm they held was scary, but they wanted me to believe it was. So they presented the worms in the most startling ways possible, trying to convince me worms were the most frightening things in the world so the boys could get the reaction and control they wanted.

In reality, I was afraid of the worms. But I simply learned to bluff too. I put on my own deception, pretending I wasn’t afraid so I could call the bluff of my adversaries.

That pattern continued into adulthood, with an Adversary who is much greater and can attack me with things that truly are the most frightening in the world.

How about scarcity, financial hardship? How about persecution and violence? How about loss of loved ones and disease? How about a pandemic? How about hatred and evil? How about death?

These are things much more dangerous and terrifying than earthworms.

And these are the fears our enemy Satan thrusts in our face, wanting to see how loud we’ll scream and how far we’ll run—wanting to see how much control we’ll give Him over our lives, hearts, and souls.

But, like the boys I used to encounter with worms, Satan is bluffing.

For those who belong to Christ, none of those horrible things I listed above and any that I didn’t list should cause us to fear.

They’re like an earthworm in a boy’s hand—they may still seem frightening, but they have no power over us, unless we give them that power.

And Satan himself is the same—he deceives and bluffs in an effort to regain control over us, but the truth is he no longer has any control over us at all, unless we give it to him.

Jesus spoke at some length on this topic during His earthly ministry. He taught that Satan “was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44b).

And Jesus also taught a hard truth about us, about me: “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires” (John 8:44a). That was me, before Christ saved me from the devil’s hold.

But here’s another truth Jesus said,

“Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” – John 8:34-36

Jesus has given His children the power to call Satan’s bluff, but not with an answering bluff of our own. We don’t need to pretend we aren’t afraid in order to resist Satan’s control.

We can actually, truly live in freedom from the sin of fear that Satan uses to control us. We don’t have to believe his lies that we have something to fear when our Savior has promised us redemption of, and victory over, all those evils that used to frighten us.

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” – John 8:31-32

The next time Satan dangles something frightening in front of you, wanting you to believe his lies about fear, stand firm and go ahead and respond with a knowing, “So?”

Because you know the truth, and that truth has set you free.

Are you being controlled by fear? Have you ever called Satan’s bluff of fear? Please share!

Photos by Yoann Boyer, Sheri Hooley, Matt Artz, and Fuu J on Unsplash. Original graphics designed by Jerusha Agen.