Have you ever played a scenario in your head and felt the emotions as if it had already happened?Not just replaying something from the past—but rehearsing a future that hasn’t occurred yet. A moment where your mind builds an entire outcome, and your body responds as though it is already real. That’s often where fear begins—not in what is happening, but in what we imagine might happen.

We are constantly surrounded by thoughts, and many times we don’t pause long enough to question whether they are true or not. Fear thrives in the space between assumption and reality.

Many years ago, a trusted leader in our lives shared an acronym for fear that I’ve never forgotten:

F — False
E — Evidence
A — Appearing
R — Real

At the time, I didn’t realize how often I would return to those four words. Through different seasons, God has used this simple acronym to help me slow down, examine my thoughts, and separate fear from truth. Fear has a way of taking a possibility and presenting it as certainty. It takes a feeling and disguises it as fact. Before long, we find ourselves carrying the weight of scenarios that haven’t even happened.

The enemy loves to use fear to keep us stuck, distracted, and focused on everything that could go wrong rather than on the God who is already present.

Fear can show up in many forms:

• Fear of the unknown
• Fear of failure
• Fear of what others think
• Fear of stepping out in faith
• Fear of confessing our struggles
• Fear of losing control
• Fear of not being enough

The list could go on.

Psalm 27:1 (MSG) “Light, space, zest—that’s God! So, with Him on my side I’m fearless, afraid of no one and nothing.”

I love this verse because fear often makes us feel trapped, crowded, and overwhelmed. But God’s presence brings light where there is confusion, space where we feel suffocated, and courage where fear has drained our strength. Fear showed up often during my journey of taking the NCMHCE exam. Looking back, I can honestly say the exam had to happen the way it did.

At the time, all I could see was another failed attempt. Every score report seemed to say one thing: Fail. It was just a word on a piece of paper, but I allowed it to mean much more than that. Instead of seeing “I failed an exam,” I began believing “I am a failure.” Every testing attempt became a reminder of previous disappointments. My body kept score. Before I even sat down to test, my mind would begin writing the story:

“What if I fail again?”
“What if all this studying isn’t enough?”
“What’s going to be different this time?”

But what I didn’t realize then was that God was doing something deeper than helping me pass an exam. With every testing attempt, He was bringing to the surface beliefs that had been buried for years—beliefs I didn’t even realize were shaping how I saw myself, my worth, and even my relationship with Him. The exam didn’t create those beliefs—it revealed them.

It revealed my fear of failure.
It revealed my need to control outcomes.
It revealed places where I had attached my identity to performance instead of God’s truth.

Every time I received a score report that said “Fail,” God was not labeling me. He was exposing where fear had taken root and inviting healing into those places. What I thought was just an exam became a refining process. God used it to bring hidden fears into the light, challenge beliefs that were no longer true, and replace lies with His truth. Had I passed the first time, I may have reached my goal sooner—but I might have missed the deeper healing God was doing in my heart. What felt like delay was actually invitation—invitation to trust Him, surrender control, and let Him heal the places where fear had been quietly growing for years.

As a clinician, I’ve used Socratic questioning with clients, and I’ve also used it in my own quiet time with the Lord. Over the years, these questions have helped me slow down, challenge fearful thoughts, and make space for truth to rise above fear.

Let’s break down FEAR:

F — False: Is this thought exaggerating what is actually true?
E — Evidence: What evidence supports this thought? What evidence challenges it?
A — Appearing: Is this a likely outcome or just a possibility?
R — Real: Am I treating feelings as facts?

When I think about this process, I picture a courtroom.

The enemy stands as an accuser, bringing charges against my mind—fear, worst-case scenarios, and distorted interpretations of past experiences. And then there is me—feeling the weight of those accusations, trying to sort through what is true and what is not. But the final voice is not the enemy’s, and not my emotions. God is the righteous Judge. He sees clearly, speaks truth, and renders the final verdict. And His Word becomes the evidence that settles what is real.

Heart Check

• What fear has been shaping my thoughts or reactions lately?
• What story have I been rehearsing that may not actually be true?
• Where am I treating feelings or assumptions as facts?
• What belief is being exposed in this season?
• If I bring this before God, what actually remains true?

Psalm 27:1 reminds me of the verdict:

“Light, space, zest—that’s God! So, with Him on my side I’m fearless, afraid of no one and nothing.”

Fear doesn’t get the final word. Truth does.

Sandy Cortes
Carriers of Hope
Breathing hope one life at a time