What Do We Do When We’re Afraid of the Future?

Here’s a strange thought. We’ve never lived one single second in the future. Not one. Yet many of us spend half our lives there—and most of that time, we’re afraid.

We lie awake at 2 am asking questions with no answers. Will I lose my job? Will my children be safe? What will the doctor say? What if the world falls apart?

The future is the one place we cannot see, control or visit early. So our minds fill the empty space with ‘what ifs’. And ‘what ifs’ are rarely kind.

If we’re afraid of the future, we aren’t alone. But into our fear, Jesus speaks words that sound almost impossible:

‘Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.’
Matthew 6:34

Is Jesus asking us to pretend? No. He isn’t saying, ‘Never think about tomorrow.’ He’s saying, ‘Do not carry tomorrow’s weight today—Someone else is already carrying it.’

Our case is simple: the answer to fear of the future isn’t knowing what will happen. It’s knowing who holds what will happen—our loving Father through Jesus Christ.

This post is part of our series What Do We Do When…?, which takes the hard moments of the Christian life to Scripture and asks how God would have us respond. Other posts in the series ask what we do when God seems distant and silent, when God closes a door we prayed would open, when we don’t know what step to take next, when we fall into the same sin again, when life doesn’t go according to plan, when doubt and anxiety won’t let go, when we can’t forgive someone, when we feel trapped in a meaningless existence and when our family opposes our faith…

Not All Fear Is the Same

The Bible doesn’t treat every fear the same way. Some fear is good, some is sinful, and some is a health problem that needs care.

4 kinds of fear—and how the Bible sees each of them

KIND OF FEAR	WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE	WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS
The fear of the Lord	Deep respect and awe before God	Good and healthy. It is ‘the beginning of wisdom’ (Proverbs 9:10).
Wise caution	Seeing danger ahead and getting ready	Good. ‘The prudent sees danger and hides himself’ (Proverbs 22:3).
Anxious worry	Living tomorrow’s troubles in your mind today	Jesus tells us to stop (Matthew 6:25–34).
Anxiety as a health condition	Ongoing fear affecting body and mind	Not simply ‘weak faith’. It may need a doctor’s help as well as prayer.

This post is about the third kind.

Notice something surprising. God tells His people, ‘Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread’ (Isaiah 8:13). The cure for wrong fear is right fear. Very often, fear of the future means God has become too small in our minds, and tomorrow too big.

KEY TERM: ‘ANXIOUS’

To be anxious means to worry restlessly about something that might happen. In Matthew 6:25–34, Jesus uses the word ‘anxious’ six times in just ten verses. His listeners struggled with it—just as we do.

5 Truths That Answer Our Fear

Fear asks 5 questions. The Bible answers all of them.

The 5 questions fear asks—and God’s answers

THE QUESTION FEAR ASKS	GOD’S ANSWER	KEY VERSE
Does anyone know what is coming?	God knows every detail	Isaiah 46:10
Is anyone in control?	God rules over everything	Ephesians 1:11
Does anyone really care about me?	God is for you—the cross proves it	Romans 8:32
Will I have to face it alone?	God goes with you into every tomorrow	Hebrews 13:5
How will it all end?	God has already written the last chapter	Philippians 1:6

1. God Knows Every Detail of Your Future

You don’t know what the next moment holds. God knows every detail of the next thousand years. He calls Himself the One who declares ‘the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done’ (Isaiah 46:10).

King David wrote, ‘in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them’ (Psalm 139:16). Nothing about your future will ever take Him by surprise. God has never once said, ‘I did not see that coming.’

2. God Rules Over Everything

KEY TERM: PROVIDENCE

Providence means God’s constant care and control over everything He has made. God doesn’t just watch the world; He runs it—from galaxies to grains of sand.

The Bible says God ‘works all things according to the counsel of His will’ (Ephesians 1:11). That includes the small details of your day. Jesus said not even a sparrow—a little bird sold for a coin—falls to the ground ‘apart from your Father’ (Matthew 10:29). Then He added, ‘Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows’ (Matthew 10:31).

Theologian RC Sproul made the point sharply: ‘If there is one single molecule in this universe running around loose, totally free of God’s sovereignty, then we have no guarantee that a single promise of God will ever be fulfilled.’ In other words, a God who controls most things cannot fully comfort us. Only a God who controls all things can.

The Heidelberg Catechism (a much-loved summary of Christian teaching from 1563) says all things come to us ‘not by chance, but by His fatherly hand’. The hand that rules our future is our Father’s hand.

3. God Is For You—and the Cross Proves It

But a powerful ruler can still be cruel. So is God for us? Paul answers with one of the strongest arguments in the Bible:

‘He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?’
Romans 8:32

If a man gives you a house, will he refuse you the key? God has already given the greatest gift—His own Son. He will not hold back the smaller things you truly need. As Jesus said, ‘your heavenly Father knows that you need them all’ (Matthew 6:32).

Jerry Bridges put it beautifully in his book Trusting God: ‘God in His love always wills what is best for us. In His wisdom He always knows what is best, and in His sovereignty He has the power to bring it about.’

4. God Goes With You Into Every Tomorrow

Much of our fear is really the fear of being alone—in hospital, in old age, in a crisis. But God promises:

‘fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.’
Isaiah 41:10

And again: ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’ (Hebrews 13:5). You will never walk into a day where God hasn’t already arrived. Even in ‘the valley of the shadow of death’, David could say, ‘I will fear no evil, for you are with me’ (Psalm 23:4).

5. God Has Already Written the Last Chapter

Paul writes, ‘He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ’ (Philippians 1:6). Nothing—not even ‘things to come’—can separate us from God’s love (Romans 8:38–39). The final scene is already written: ‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more’ (Revelation 21:4).

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

For the believer, nothing in the future is unknown to God, outside His control, against His love, empty of His presence or able to undo His plan. That is why Jesus can say ‘do not be anxious about tomorrow’ without being careless or naive.

No wonder John Calvin wrote that ‘ignorance of providence is the ultimate of all miseries; the highest blessedness lies in the knowledge of it.’

Jesus in the Garden: He Faced the Worst Future for Us

On the night before He died, Jesus went to a garden called Gethsemane. He knew exactly what the next day would bring—betrayal, beatings, the cross and the full weight of God’s judgement against sin.

How did He feel? Luke tells us that ‘being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground’ (Luke 22:44). Here we learn three precious things:

Feeling dread is not the same as sin. Jesus never sinned, yet He felt deep distress.
Jesus turned His dread into prayer. He prayed, ‘Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done’ (Luke 22:42). That is our pattern.
He drank the cup so we never have to. In the Old Testament, the ‘cup’ is a picture of God’s anger against sin (Isaiah 51:17). Jesus drank it all.

The most terrible future any human could face—standing guilty before a holy God—has been removed for everyone who trusts in Christ. ‘For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ’ (1 Thessalonians 5:9). Jesus came to ‘deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery’ (Hebrews 2:15). If the biggest fear is gone, every smaller fear has lost its final power.

Why Other Answers Fall Short

The world offers other answers. Each one leaves out something we badly need.

How the world’s answers to fear compare with the Bible’s answer

THE WORLD’S ANSWER	WHAT IT SAYS	WHY IT FALLS SHORT
Luck or chance	‘Life is random. Hope for the best.’	Nobody is in charge, so nobody can help you.
Fate or karma	‘What will be, will be.’	A force rules your life, but it does not know you or love you.
‘God does not know the future’	Some say God learns as events happen.	Then God could be surprised too. Isaiah 46:10 says He never is.
Prosperity teaching	‘Have enough faith and only good things will come.’	Jesus said, ‘In the world you will have tribulation’ (John 16:33).

Only the God of the Bible is all-knowing, all-ruling, all-loving and always present—all at the same time. Take away any one of these, and fear walks straight back in.

Honest Questions People Ask

‘If God controls hard things too, isn’t that more frightening?’ Only if God is not good—and the cross proves He is. Joseph, sold as a slave by his brothers, later told them, ‘you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good’ (Genesis 50:20). The Puritan writer John Flavel said that some of God’s providences, like Hebrew letters, must be read backwards. The alternative—a world where evil runs free—would be far more frightening.
‘Is it a sin to feel afraid?’ The feeling is not the problem; unbelief is. When the disciples panicked in a storm, Jesus asked, ‘Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?’ (Mark 4:40). David shows the better way: ‘When I am afraid, I put my trust in you’ (Psalm 56:3). Notice he says ‘when’, not ‘if’.
‘If God has planned everything, why should I plan?’ Because God plans the means as well as the end. God promised Paul that everyone on his ship would survive a storm (Acts 27), yet Paul still warned, ‘Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved’ (Acts 27:31). Planning is good. Worry is trying to do God’s job.
‘Doesn’t Romans 8:28 promise me a happy future?’ Not exactly. All things work ‘together for good’, and the next verse explains that ‘good’: being made more like Jesus (Romans 8:29). Thomas Watson (A Divine Cordial, 1663) compared hard times to a doctor’s bitter medicine: not sweet, but healing.

So What Do We Do When We’re Afraid of the Future?

Name it and pray it. ‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God’ (Philippians 4:6). ‘Supplication’ simply means asking humbly. Then God’s peace ‘will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 4:7).
Look back before you look forward. After a great victory, Samuel set up a stone and said, ‘Till now the LORD has helped us’ (1 Samuel 7:12). The God of your past is the God of your future.
Live one day at a time. In the wilderness, God gave Israel manna (bread from heaven) every morning—never a week’s supply at once (Exodus 16). God gives grace for today, not for imaginary tomorrows.
Talk to yourself—don’t just listen to yourself. Preacher Martyn Lloyd-Jones asked, ‘Have you realised that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself?’ Do what the psalmist did and tell your soul, ‘Hope in God; for I shall again praise him’ (Psalm 42:5).
Seek first God’s kingdom. ‘But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you’ (Matthew 6:33).
Plan with open hands. James teaches us to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that’ (James 4:15).
Do not carry it alone. Share your fears with mature Christian friends (Galatians 6:2). If fear is controlling your life, speak to a doctor too. Using God’s gift of medicine is not a lack of faith.
Look further ahead. Paul calls our troubles ‘light’ and ‘momentary’ when compared with ‘an eternal weight of glory’ (2 Corinthians 4:17). Tomorrow is big; forever is bigger.

What’s God Teaching Us Through Our Fear?

In God’s hands, fear is never wasted. He may be teaching us:

To depend on Him. Paul said his own crushing trouble came ‘to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead’ (2 Corinthians 1:9).
What we love most. Counsellor Edward Welch (Running Scared) shows that our fears reveal what we treasure. If losing something terrifies us, it may have taken God’s place.
That we are not God. We were never meant to hold the future. That is a huge relief.
To pray. Fear can become a doorway to God instead of a dead end.
To comfort others. God comforts us ‘so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction’ (2 Corinthians 1:4).

Our Future Is in Safe Hands

The Heidelberg Catechism begins by asking: what is your only comfort in life and in death? Its answer: ‘That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.’

That’s the answer to fear of the future. You don’t know what tomorrow holds. But you can know who holds tomorrow—and He has already proved His love at the cross. With David, you can pray, ‘My times are in your hand’ (Psalm 31:15).

If you’re not yet trusting Jesus, these promises can be yours too. He promises never to turn away anyone who comes to Him (John 6:37).

REMEMBER THIS

The Bible describes a wise woman who ‘laughs at the time to come’ (Proverbs 31:25). She isn’t laughing because she knows what will happen. She laughs because she knows who’s in charge. That same peace is offered to you.

Tough Questions, Honest Answers

Does Jeremiah 29:11 promise me a good future?

Jeremiah 29:11 is one of the most loved verses in the Bible: ‘For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.’ But it was first written to Jewish exiles in Babylon. In the verse just before, God told them they would wait seventy years (Jeremiah 29:10)—so many of them would die before the promise came true. The promise was about God’s good plan for His people as a whole, finally fulfilled in Jesus Christ. So we can rightly take comfort that God’s plans for His people are always good. But it is not a promise that every personal dream will come true.

Is it wrong to check horoscopes or ask about ‘auspicious’ days?

Yes. In many cultures, people consult astrologers or wait for a ‘lucky’ date before a wedding, a journey or a new business. But God clearly forbids fortune-telling and seeking hidden knowledge (Deuteronomy 18:10–12). Trusting the stars means trusting created things instead of the Creator who made them (Isaiah 47:13–14). Christians are free to choose any sensible date, because ‘The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD’ (Proverbs 16:33). Every day belongs to God, so no day is unlucky for His children.

If God has already planned my future, why should I pray?

Because prayer is one of the ways God has chosen to carry out His plan. God does not only plan what will happen; He also plans how it will happen, and our prayers are part of the ‘how’. James says plainly, ‘You do not have, because you do not ask’ (James 4:2). Prayer does not tell God something He does not know—it brings us close to the Father who already knows. It also changes us, as we learn to want what He wants.

How do I stop worrying about my children’s future?

Remember that your children belong to God even more than they belong to you. God promises that ‘the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children’ (Psalm 103:17). Your job is faithfulness—to pray for them, teach them God’s Word and live out your faith in front of them (Deuteronomy 6:6–7). Their future is God’s job, not yours. So each time a worry about them comes, turn it into a prayer for them.

Should Christians be afraid of the end times?

No. Jesus warned of wars and troubles before His return, but He also said, ‘See that you are not alarmed’ (Matthew 24:6). For believers, the end of the age is not a disaster film—it is the day our King comes back. Paul calls His return ‘our blessed hope’ (Titus 2:13). The right response is not fear but readiness: living faithfully today. You can explore this further in our series on the last things.

Does the Bible really say ‘fear not’ 365 times?

This is a popular saying, but careful counts do not support it. The exact number depends on the translation and on which phrases you include, such as ‘fear not’, ‘do not fear’ and ‘do not be afraid’. Even so, God tells His people not to be afraid again and again—from Abraham (Genesis 15:1) to John on the island of Patmos (Revelation 1:17). The truth is better than the myth. God’s comfort does not depend on a number, but on His unchanging character.

How can I help a friend who is always afraid of the future?

Start by listening. The Bible says, ‘let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak’ (James 1:19). Do not throw Bible verses at your friend like stones; share God’s promises gently and at the right time. Pray with them, not just for them. Stay close over time, because fear often returns. If their fear is affecting their sleep, work or health, kindly encourage them to see a doctor as well.

Truths to die for

What Do We Do When We’re Afraid of the Future?

Not All Fear Is the Same