What are you afraid of?
Snakes, heights, spiders, closed spaces, flying, the dark, public speaking, God? Sickness, diseases, loss of job or financial security, dying, loss of loved ones, failure. How about fear of being alone, fear of sharing emotions and being real, rejection, under-accomplishment; not to mention natural disasters and terror attacks? Man or boy, woman or girl, rich or poor, we all have fears. But what exactly is fear? According to Webster's dictionary, fear is "an unpleasant emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger....an anxious concern." This sounded pretty tame to me so I dug a bit further and I came across this impressive definition written by authors, Sandra Casey-Martus and Carla Mancari in their book, The Christ Centered Prayer Revelation. "Fear is a paralyzing, restrictive emotional force that can limit your ability to act from a balanced state of consciousness. It....can override common sense, causing a stumbling block that can prevent you from moving on with your life." Wow!!!! You see, it is normal to feel some fear. After all, it is a powerful tool; a protective means of moving us out of danger to safety. On the other hand, if persistent and irrational, fear can be extremely harmful. It can steal our joy and destroy our hope. It can steal our freedom , trample on our faith and if not dealt with, can hold us prisoner. Fear does not always wear a name tag but we all have met fear. Unfortunately though, there are times we tend not to recognize it until it has dug its ugly claws into our hearts and soul, creating a destructive path that leaves us captive under its strength. It may, at times, show up in our daily life disguised as insecurity, deviant behaviour, hostility and even bullying. It can isolate us robbing us of healthy relationships and/or leave us overwhelmed and depressed. For people who do not understand its grip, often times they will tell us "just get over it" but it is never that easy. Usually whatever has nicked, pricked or stabbed our soul has caused enough injury to render us incapable of pursuing freedom. To get over fear we first need to be honest with our self. Recognize it and consider whether it is a rational or irrational fear. Try and identity its source--maybe a willful or unwillful act done to us; possibly a false perception of our self or others; maybe lies or wrongful beliefs the enemy of our soul has placed in our hearts. Next we need to take conscious and deliberate actions to overcome the fear. To do this, we need to redirect our thinking and focus on God's truth. Truth about Himself and about us. Contrary to some beliefs, God DOES care about us. Isaiah 41:10 tells us "....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." What an encouragement this is! Understand that unless we face our fear, we will never truly be free to be who we were meant to be or reach our fullest potential. Therefore, each day we take steps to trade our fear for faith. Faith in our self but more so, faith in God. As we daily surrender to God and read His word, His truth will penetrate our wounded soul and spread like a healing balm bringing joy, peace and hope. In the past I felt I would have nothing meaningful to share that could bring encouragement to anyone. After all, it has been years now that I have had a stirring in my heart to write but I felt inadequate; unsure of myself, asking why would God want to use me. I felt FEAR. But through prayer and with God's word tucked into my heart and mind, here I am sharing with you....my first blog!!!! So you see, I too am learning that "God did not give us a spirit of fear but of power, love and a well-balanced mind." 2 Tim 1:7 I too am learning "when I am afraid, I put my trust in (Him)." Psalm 56:3; and I too am learning "there is no fear in love, but perfect love (His perfect love) drives out fear." 1 John 4:18 God has a plan and purpose for your life. Do not let fear steal it. Come on, take that first step; it is so worth it. You are so worth it. Thank you for stopping by and I hope you will join me on this journey as we dare to be His.
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