feaR, feAR, fEAR, FEAR!…That’s right, go ahead and say it out loud. It is an ugly word. It creeps in at night to choke us around our necks. It’s the reason some people do not pursue a degree, a career change, or make a big move. It whispers in our ears, “You can’t do that…Who do you think you are?…You are not good enough…Let somebody else do it.” Fear paralyses us to remain stagnant and do nothing. Fear is the reason that so many people miss out on whatever it is that God has for them at a particular season of their lives.
I have fears. I fear adventurous stuff like jumping out of airplanes or getting stranded at the top of a mountain in the freezing cold or encountering snakes. So I don’t do those things. There is no need to introduce those levels of excitement into my life so I choose to remain boring, and I’m okay with that.
On the other hand, there are other things that God has clearly gifted us to do, amazing ways that we can contribute, or opportunities where we can bless someone else and we simply don’t do it because we are afraid.
- We fear failure. (What if it doesn’t work out the way that I expected?)
Scripture References: Philippians 1:6, Matthew 6:33, Galatians 6:9
- We fear for the future. (What if I can’t control the situation?)
Scripture Reference: Matthew 6:25-34
- We fear rejection. (What will people say? What if they don’t like me?)
Scripture Reference: Psalm 118:6-8, Matthew 10:28, Matthew 23:11-12
We must recognize that being consumed by fear is not God’s desire for our lives.
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV)
The only way to combat fear is to confront it. Seek the Lord, step out on faith and the assurance of God’s word (that is the Bible) and trust God with the results.
Previously, I’ve mentioned a few fears that have not consumed my life. They don’t matter much to me and I don’t think they matter all that much to God. (I learned the lesson early in the Bible about how important it is not to befriend serpents.) On the other hand, there are fears that do matter. Concerning those fears, I have committed to Eleanor Roosevelt’s words:
“[I] must do the thing [I] think [I] cannot do.”
Doing those things will not be the end of the me; rather the beginning of something new that God has in store. I tackle those fears head on and will wrestle with them to the end.
How about you? Are you making any faith moves today?
© Natasha L. Robinson 2011
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A SISTA'S JOURNEY 
Fear is the big one! Everyone has fear of some sort. Yet the Word says over and over and over and over…:”Do not fear!”
Because God knows, He cares, He is able!
Ahhhh, I’m looking back over the last week and a half and the currents of fear I felt in dealing with something that I felt the Holy Spirit convicting me about. . . you know. I definitely struggled with the fear of “what if’s”.
I believe my fears were definitely overcome by realizing that the Holy Spirit was moving me, and I just needed to make sure I did what I did with love and not with fear and all the defensive feelings that come with feeling that fear.
“Wrestling” with God and what he would have us to do in any given situation is something that all Christians should do. It is a sure sign that God is working in your life to stretch and change you. I’m thinking about Jacob wrestling with the angel right now…a blessing AND limp was on the other side of that. Love, Natasha