"For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21)
The Apostle Paul wrote this in his letter to the church in Philippi. He knew that his death would bring glory to God as well—and not only that, but it would also be the time when his faith would come to fruition and he would live with his Savior forever (“to die is gain”). Paul longed for the day when death would bring him face to face with Jesus
There are two places that fear comes from, the place of common sense that keeps us from getting hurt or injured, and the other which comes from our natural human weakness or the fear of the unknown, and it's this kind Satan loves to exploit and he's never been more busy working at it or finding a greater degree of success.
The biggest object of fear he uses, is the fear of death. Death is seen as this mysterious ominous dreaded thing we all must face, that ends our lives permanently and it all seems so ominously mysterious......BUT, Satan doesn't want us to know that death isn't really an ending at all, but an amazing new beginning for those who are born-again.
The interesting thing is most believers in Jesus know that they are going to Heaven when they die, but still fear death, nonetheless. WHY?
First, they are focused solely on this life; not thinking eternally, therefore, they put all of their energy on staying alive and maintaining this temporal life.
Second, because of the reason, they make themselves vulnerable to Satan's attacks and he doesn't hesitate to use anyone he can work through to bring those dreaded fearful thoughts and feelings, that we can't see are being exaggerated and exploited by evil sources. We just think it's part of life to have to deal with all sorts of fear; we forget to properly divide the useful fears our mother taught us like not touching a hot stove from those crippling fears the devil uses to limit our thinking and control us.
This is because when fear hits, there is panic and when we are in a state of panic, we cannot think clearly:
"Do not fret—it only causes harm." (Psalm 37:8b)
God wants us to remain calm and seek Him for His Guidance when we are struck with that crippling fear, so we can quickly get back to steadfastness and the quicker the better, (as the verse in Psalm 37 above explains):
"And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.” (Exodus 14:13-14)
Satan has always used fear to get control over our decision-making, but in these final days he is working harder than ever to prepare vulnerable souls for the coming Antichrist to help him carry out his evil plan for mankind.
Inasmuch as the fear of death is the ultimate fear the devil uses to control us; doesn't it make sense that the opposite is also true?
If we abide in Christ Jesus, He will make us stronger and enable our resistance to this wicked tactic; freeing us and consequently, the devil loses all control over our thoughts and actions. AND, We will NOT make decisions out of fear.
“O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1Corinthians 15:55-57)