When Fear Has You Stuck

By Minister Dearest Price, M.Ed

Fear is one of the most effective prisons ever built because the bars are invisible and the sentence feels self-imposed. I see it every day in my work with incarceration both behind literal bars and in the free world where people wake up every morning confined by anxiety, shame, scarcity, and the dread of what might happen next. Fear does not need a judge or a sentence. It only needs agreement.

Scripture is clear about fear’s intent. “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). That means fear is not neutral. It is a spirit, and like all spirits, it comes with an assignment. Fear’s assignment is paralysis. It keeps people frozen in abusive relationships, silent in unjust systems, stuck in poverty, hesitant to apply, afraid to speak, afraid to hope, afraid to heal.

Right now, fear is everywhere. Fear of losing housing. Fear of medical bills. Fear of retaliation for telling the truth. Fear of stepping out of line in workplaces that quietly punish integrity. Fear of being visible as a Black woman, a returning citizen, a believer, a truth-teller. Fear shows up in classrooms, courtrooms, churches, and families. It whispers, don’t rock the boat, don’t apply, don’t ask, don’t dream too loud. And eventually, people stop trying to leave the cell because the cell feels familiar.

Fear is a jail. It limits movement. It controls behavior. It conditions obedience. Like incarceration, fear convinces people that survival is the same thing as freedom. But Scripture tells us otherwise. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me… He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners” (Luke 4:18). Some of those prisoners are not in uniforms. Some are in offices, apartments, pews, and perfectly curated lives, bound by what might happen if they step forward.

I’ve worked with people who have done time and people who have never seen a cell, and I will tell you this: fear operates the same in both places. It thrives on uncertainty, isolation, and silence. It feeds on old failures and future catastrophes that haven’t happened yet. Jesus speaks directly to this in Matthew 6 when He says, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.” Fear lives in tomorrow. Faith lives in now.

Release from fear does not happen all at once, and it does not come from pretending fear isn’t real. It comes from walking out of the cell door even when your legs are shaking. The first step toward release is recognizing fear for what it is and calling it out. Jesus said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). Fear loses power when it is named instead of obeyed. Naming fear breaks its authority. Silence strengthens it.

The second step is replacing fear’s voice with God’s voice. Fear speaks in worst-case scenarios. God speaks in promises. “When I am afraid, I put my trust in You” (Psalm 56:3). This is not denial; it is discipline. Faith is choosing which voice gets final say. In incarceration, rehabilitation begins when a person stops identifying only with their charge and starts identifying with their capacity to change. Spiritually, it’s the same. Fear says this is all you’ll ever be. God says behold, I make all things new.

The third step is movement. Fear hates movement. Faith requires it. “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:17). Movement doesn’t mean the fear disappears; it means you move anyway. You apply anyway. You speak anyway. You leave anyway. You forgive anyway. You build anyway. In my work, I’ve seen men and women walk into programs terrified, unsure, carrying decades of fear, and still take the next step. That step is where freedom begins.

Fear tells us to wait until we feel safe. God tells us to walk by faith, not by sight. Freedom is not the absence of fear; it is obedience in spite of it. Bondage says stay where you are because you know the rules here. Faith says come out, because captivity is no longer your portion.

If fear has you stuck today, hear this clearly: the door is open. The chains are not locked. The sentence has already been served. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1). Step out. Even trembling steps count. I’ve seen it in jails. I’ve seen it in lives. And I know it’s true.