With Halloween around the corner, this seems like the perfect time to talk about fear. (Typing the above words, I just realized that sentence could’ve ended multiple ways. “Halloween is the perfect time to talk about…wearing masks or gluttony or showing hospitality to people who turn up at your door.” So many directions to take!)

Though I’m not a fan of the scary side of Halloween, such as horror movies and haunted houses, I know that fear is definitely tied up with this holiday, but experiencing feelings of fear isn’t something we only do on October 31. Fear rears its ugly head in so many circumstances and our response to fear can vary, too. We may tremble or cry. We might lash out with anger or simmer with jealousy. Just about any outburst, whether it’s an in-person confrontation or an online rant, can be traced back to some deep-seated fear.

Fortunately, Scripture gives us plenty of words to follow when we’re feeling afraid. Take Isaiah 41:10, for example. “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” This is one of my favorite verses. It gives us a peek into who God is—our strong protector. He tells us there’s nothing to fear for one singular reason—not because of our own strength or intelligence or power—but because He is our God.

It’s like you’re playing a game of basketball in your driveway with your neighbors and as you’re picking teams, you realize that you have LeBron James on your team. So yeah, you’re going to win that game!

But why is God willing to be our MVP for us? Well, the answer to this question comes a few verses before Isaiah 41:10: “But as for you, Israel my servant, Jacob my chosen one, descended from Abraham my friend, I have called you back from the ends of the earth, saying, ‘You are my servant. For I have chosen you and will not throw you away.” Since we’re grafted into His family, God also chose us. He called us from faraway places, and He won’t throw us away. We matter to Him.

So if we have God on our side to strengthen us and help us and uphold us with his righteous right hand, why do we sometimes walk around like we’re already defeated? Heads hung low, scared of the world, ready to give up? Sometimes, for whatever reason—maybe due to the devil’s schemes or our own ignorance or forgetfulness or the pull towards this earthly existence—we are still afraid. We may even search out things to be afraid of, creating scenarios or putting ourselves in situations that strain our faith.

But just like when Jesus came to the Disciples in that locked room where they were hiding after the events of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, terrified about what would happen next, our Lord is willing to meet us where we are in our fear. Just like He did with His scared friends, He’s coming to us and saying “Peace be with you!”

Knowing that those very real and very human feelings are going to come, we can prepare our minds for the inevitability of fear. Then we can praise God for the opportunity to place our trust in Him, an exercise to grow our faith and strengthen our resolve for the next scary thing coming around the corner.