fear of hell

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Monica4316

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Hi, for the past few weeks I’ve been dealing with a lot of fear of hell, and fear of death… whenever I think of salvation, or Heaven, hell, purgatory, - I get nervous… I can’t figure out what the state of my soul is… I’m trying very hard to repent of all my sins, but sometimes I’m afraid I’m missing something, or not repenting well enough, etc. I feel far from God, and like I’ve lost so many graces. It might also be because I haven’t had the opportunity to go to Confession for a while, but I’m really planning to go soon. Well my question is… last Sunday I was at Mass, and I felt SO much better, and God gave me peace and consolation that lasted the whole day… I was very thankful for that, and it encouraged me to keep going, but then I started questioning the experience, and doubting if it wasn’t just in my mind. **How do we hold on to hope and faith, when we’re being tempted to fear and doubt? **

thanks 🙂
 
Read up on “Providence” and think about how it would work with miracles. I’ll comment more later.

Realize there are no coincidences.

Also, the devil will never give you a consolation that will bring you closer to God.
 
That’s the idea!

Fear of Hell will push us towards the Love of Jesus!

Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, Ora Pro Nobis Peccatoribus!

mark
 
thank you… unfortunately this fear of hell is not leading me closer to God, but into despair…
 
Monica I think you may have just answered your own question. If this fear you are experiencing is leading you to despair, which is a sin, then the source is evil.

I suggest you get to the confessional ASAP. I am sure a good priest can help you work through this.
 
Fear is a feeling - it isn’t necessarily rational - you don’t have to give in to it. Try ignoring it and rely instead on an act of will. Make the decision that you trust in Jesus to lead you to heaven and you will not give in to fear no matter how you feel.
 
momor said:
Fear is a feeling - it isn’t necessarily rational - you don’t have to give in to it. Try ignoring it and rely instead on an act of will. Make the decision that you trust in Jesus to lead you to heaven and you will not give in to fear no matter how you feel.
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I agree with momor that you should resist the feeling and make an act of will to trust in Jesus. We are all unworthy of heaven. No one of us measures up. Thank the Lord for the gift of heaven!

Btw, how much more meritorious is it when we go against our feelings and make an act of will to trust in the Lord? How much easier is it to trust in God when we have the associated feelings? Which one of these requires a more “dying to self”? Isn’t that what we are called to do - to die to self?

Continue to pray and receive the sacraments as soon and as often as possible. I will pray for you because I totally relate to the fear of hell. Pray the rosary. Our Blessed Mother wants us in heaven, too.
 
Thank you everyone 🙂

the thing is, a while ago I seriously doubted all my experiences with God, His love, and Catholicism, as demonic, and then I was afraid I denied the Holy Spirit… I’ve since repented of my sin, but often it seems to me that I can’t get rid of the doubts, it’s like they’ve poisoned my soul in some way:shrug: 😦 it’s like they’re blocking me from God. I’m forcing myself to believe though. I’ll also go to Confession soon, hopefully.

From the moment I wake up each day, I feel an absense of God (in my soul), there’s a lot of desolation… it fits the description of the ‘dark night’ pretty well. However, I feel this is the result of my sin, and that’s why sometimes I get afraid I’ve done the unforgiveable sin. Because I’m repentant and want to love God still, I’m trying to believe it’s forgiveable. But the main problem right now is just this desolation that I’m experiencing all the time, and it’s really strong… and whenever I try to get closer to God, I just feel pain, and then guilt for my sin. I hope Confession will help 😦 the more I try to love God, the more painful all this gets.

thanks again for the advice 🙂 God bless
 
Monica, Just try talking to Jesus about it and how your feeling, tell him your thoughts and concerns. I don’t mean praying, just talking like your talking to a friend and tell him your concerns. This really works well. I started doing it lately and I got answers. I talk to the Blessed Mother on the way to work in my truck everyday. I tell her whats bothering me and ask how I should handle things. I still pray but doing this has really brought me closer to Jesus and Mary. Also try offering up your problems. I feel a lot better when I do this.
 
Monica4316 said:
I can’t figure out what the state of my soul is…
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pffft you and me both.:rolleyes:
That doesn’t matter though. Try to stop worrying about the state of your soul. There’s no way you can figure it out. No one can judge the state of your soul. This is not an excuse for bad behavior, I mean it in the strictest sense, no one can judge you, not even you. Only God can. So don’t worry, and trust in God’s mercy. You need to go to confession? Go. After that, as long as you don’t commit a mortal sin (and you know when you do) don’t worry too much.

Besides, God doesn’t live in the future, but in the present. So don’t worry about what will happen, try to focus on pleasing God now.
I’m trying very hard to repent of all my sins, but sometimes I’m afraid I’m missing something, or not repenting well enough, etc.
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Even if you miss something it doesn’t matter. And there’s no such thing as not repenting “well enough”. You either repent or you don’t. You’ve done it so don’t worry. Where we fail the Holy Spirit will fill in the rest.
I feel far from God, and like I’ve lost so many graces. It might also be because I haven’t had the opportunity to go to Confession for a while, but I’m really planning to go soon.
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Humans are literally bombarded by graces, especially us Catholics. How much do we actually catch? Maybe a few graces a day. So don’t worry, you’ll miss some, you’re not perfect. Strive to dispose yourself with every grace and blessing, but don’t lose your mind if you don’t catch them all or feel their affect.
Well my question is… last Sunday I was at Mass, and I felt SO much better, and God gave me peace and consolation that lasted the whole day… I was very thankful for that, and it encouraged me to keep going, but then I started questioning the experience, and doubting if it wasn’t just in my mind. **How do we hold on to hope and faith, when we’re being tempted to fear and doubt? **
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thanks 🙂
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It was from God. Even if it was in your mind it was from God. You’ll look back one day and realize it.

Don’t forget that God’s actions don’t always have to take the form of some sort of huge miracle that bends the laws of nature. They don’t even need to be seen by everyone. Miracles are for the faithful. They help us come closer to God. If you had a feeling that everything would be ok and that you should keep going on, why would it matter if it was in your mind? God can give us consolations through our minds too.

Realize that there is such a thing as providence. There are no coincidences, and God controls everything. Nothing happens by accident. Nothing happens without God’s approval or stamp. So that you felt a feeling of encouragement that made you want to go on is what is important. As for its source, well…if it was from the devil he did a really **** poor job at turning you away from God. If it was in your own mind then hey, great.🤷

If you wish to thank God for it then do so. Sounds like it would be from God anyway. Personally I view many of the consolations I receive as from God.
 
Monica4316 said:
Thank you everyone 🙂

the thing is, a while ago I seriously doubted all my experiences with God, His love, and Catholicism, as demonic, and then I was afraid I denied the Holy Spirit… I’ve since repented of my sin, but often it seems to me that I can’t get rid of the doubts, it’s like they’ve poisoned my soul in some way:shrug: 😦 it’s like they’re blocking me from God. I’m forcing myself to believe though. I’ll also go to Confession soon, hopefully.

From the moment I wake up each day, I feel an absense of God (in my soul), there’s a lot of desolation… it fits the description of the ‘dark night’ pretty well. However, I feel this is the result of my sin, and that’s why sometimes I get afraid I’ve done the unforgiveable sin. Because I’m repentant and want to love God still, I’m trying to believe it’s forgiveable. But the main problem right now is just this desolation that I’m experiencing all the time, and it’s really strong… and whenever I try to get closer to God, I just feel pain, and then guilt for my sin. I hope Confession will help 😦 the more I try to love God, the more painful all this gets.

thanks again for the advice 🙂 God bless
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You’re winning:rolleyes:

Just keep going to Church, and receive Christ through the Eucharist. Feelings are feelings. They hurt but push through them. Nothing upsets the devil more than when a soul has every reason not to follow God but does so anyway. 👍
 
I used to fear hell too. A lot. Now I don’t fear hell anymore, but death, and my fear of hell was nothing compared to my my current fear of death. 😦

So when I die, I will be either tortured for an eternity, or simply feel nothing. 🤷 Don’t like my choices.

My personal opinion; I think religion is based on fear, and not love as most say. Most of the people believe because they don’t want to die, and they obey the rules of religion because they fear hell/other similar place. (Note; Sometimes the rules can have other reasons to be followed too)

You can disagree, if you want.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone 🙂

NotReligious, I disagree that religion is based on fear… before all this started happening to me, I only felt hope in God, I didn’t feel afraid… and the reason I turned to God wasn’t related at all to fear of death or hell. Many Christian martyrs faced death for God… and it says in the Bible that “perfect love casts out fear”

I’m sorry that you’re also struggling with fear of death 😦 remember though that you do have a choice of how you approach it, and of what happens afterwards. I’m letting you know this even though you might not believe in heaven or hell… both heaven and hell are choices.
 
Monica4316 said:
I’m sorry that you’re also struggling with fear of death 😦 remember though that you do have a choice of how you approach it, and of what happens afterwards.I’m letting you know this even though you might not believe in heaven or hell… both heaven and hell are choices.
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I can’t say I agree. As you assumed, I don’t believe in heaven or hell. I simply can’t choose something I don’t believe in. And I also can’t choose to believe, for I was born with a very skeptical mind.

Thanks for the sympathy though.
 
It sounds to me that you have been controlled by the devil.

Go to confession immediately, do not put it off.
 
Monica4316 said:
Hi, for the past few weeks I’ve been dealing with a lot of fear of hell, and fear of death… whenever I think of salvation, or Heaven, hell, purgatory, - I get nervous… I can’t figure out what the state of my soul is… I’m trying very hard to repent of all my sins, but sometimes I’m afraid I’m missing something, or not repenting well enough, etc. I feel far from God, and like I’ve lost so many graces. It might also be because I haven’t had the opportunity to go to Confession for a while, but I’m really planning to go soon. Well my question is… last Sunday I was at Mass, and I felt SO much better, and God gave me peace and consolation that lasted the whole day… I was very thankful for that, and it encouraged me to keep going, but then I started questioning the experience, and doubting if it wasn’t just in my mind. **How do we hold on to hope and faith, when we’re being tempted to fear and doubt? **

thanks 🙂
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Hello Monica;

It sounds like to me you’re experiencing (“a part”) of what Saint John of the Cross wrote about in The Dark Night of the Soul. To tell you the truth I have caught myself thinking the way you do from time to time. Fear of God is the beginning of all wisdom which what I try to remind myself. I think if we should embrace any fear it should be focused on God Himself who is both infinitely loving and merciful.

I would think our driven focus on the fear of Hell would paralyze us and take us away from our devote focus on the service of loving God and obeying His commandments.
Our loving God is both merciful and gentle. Surely He wouldn’t want our fears misplaced.

Peace
Chris
 
NotReligous said:
I can’t say I agree. As you assumed, I don’t believe in heaven or hell. I simply can’t choose something I don’t believe in. And I also can’t choose to believe, for I was born with a very skeptical mind.

Thanks for the sympathy though.
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🙂 I was raised agnostic so I know what you mean. I believe that faith is a grace… I’m sure that if a person asks for it in prayer, they will be offered the grace.
 
Monica may I suggest you pick up a book titled " The Diary of St.Maria Faustina ". You will find that you and Maria have the same thing in common. She was constantly afraid too though not in the same degree as you. Read it. I believe it will be a comfort to you. You need to read this. God Bless!
 
DavidKays said:
Monica may I suggest you pick up a book titled " The Diary of St.Maria Faustina ". You will find that you and Maria have the same thing in common. She was constantly afraid too though not in the same degree as you. Read it. I believe it will be a comfort to you. You need to read this. God Bless!
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Hi David, thanks for the suggestion 🙂 I have the book, though I haven’t yet finished reading it. I do find it comforting that she went through many trials yet they were for her sanctification. The problem is that I’m always afraid that my trials are actually the result of sin, I don’t see myself as being in the same situation as her, though her sufferings also invoved despair. I have asked St Faustina to pray for me many times though and she always helps 🙂

God bless
 
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