Did you know the command to “fear not” or “do not be afraid” is the most repeated command in the entire Bible? Life can be scary, and God acknowledges that. Jesus himself promised, “in this world, you will have trouble” (John 16:33), but God knew we would need to be reassured over and over again not to be afraid. With the recent spread of the coronavirus across the world, there’s a lot of uncertainty and much to be afraid of. However, as followers of Christ, we know there is hope beyond this world. We must choose to have an eternal outlook and drown out the chaos and cries of this world.

Billy Graham spoke about fear during his many years of ministry. Here are 10 quotes from him to encourage and comfort you:

“Whatever [the] fears, encourage [yourself] to face them—and then turn them over to God. God loves [you], and when we know Christ and have put our faith and trust in Him, we know He’ll never abandon us.”

“Fear flees in the light of God’s love.”

“…God doesn’t want us to be prisoners of our fears. The Bible says, ‘Do what is right and do not give way to fear,’ (1 Peter 3:6).”

“Focus on Christ instead of your fears, and your fears will begin to fade.”

“We…should fear sins that have a grip on our lives, because we know they’ll destroy us. The Bible says to ‘flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness,’ (1 Timothy 6:11).”

“The key is to learn to trust God, no matter what our fears are. And we can trust Him, because He loves us, and He is greater than anything we’ll ever face.”

“…When we know Christ, we know He is with us every moment of the day, and that should give us comfort.”

“If we trust in our worry more than we trust God we are sinning by our lack of faith in God, who has given us the richness of His constant abiding presence, for those who put their faith in Him.”

“Commit your life to Christ, and then when fears come, turn them over to God…Remember the Psalmist’s words: ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation — whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life — of whom shall I be afraid?’ (Psalm 27:1).”

“Since Jesus overcame death, can He not help us overcome worry about the things that will probably never happen? We should turn worry into gratitude for all the times He has seen us through difficulties.”