Are You Afraid?

What is fear? According to the dictionary fear is an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger; anxious concern; a profound reverence for God.

We all have our fears, mine... well, my BIGGEST fear is frogs! Yep, frogs! I cannot even see one on TV without having an anxiety attack!  They totally freak me out, I cannot explain it, I just know that if I see a frog, I will be screaming like I am dying!

No matter what your fears are God is bigger!  He is bigger than my fear of frogs for sure!  I also have other fears... fears of not being good enough, fear of making mistakes, fear of loss, fear of change! 

Here are some ways that I have found helpful in overcoming my fears and hope that it may help you too!

ONE:

Realize where the fear is coming from.  2 Timothy 1:7- "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

Fear is there for a reason, it's there to stop you in your tracks!  How many times have you been praying and making a decision for the Lord and then all these thoughts bombard your mind why it won't work?  Or you begin to think of the reasons that it may be a bad idea. 

Fear is from Satan himself.  He will do whatever he can to stop you from serving God and from being a witness for God.  Think about it, how many times have you felt burdened to tell someone about Jesus and fear kicks in?  You know, we must be aware of Satan and his devices that he uses to stop us from being an effective Christian.

TWO:

Secondly, we need to do something with the fear.  Too bad we can't just throw it away and go on with life right? But we can give it to God!  He knows what to do with it. 

Just imagine that God has this giant dumpster where He throws away all of our fears!

If you look in the Bible, there are many who could have let fear stop them, but they didn't.  How about Noah! Fear of being made fun of, fear of not getting it right building that ark, fear of the rain not actually coming... there are a lot of reasons why fear could have stopped him, but he didn't.  If he had, he and his family and all of those animals would have died.

How about Joseph?  If he allowed fear to stop him, he wouldn't have become the second in command and saved everyone from the famine. He also wouldn’t have been able to see God work in his life to reunite him with his brothers and father. Wow! What a story, can you imagine if that didn’t happen for Joseph? What could you possibly miss out on if you let fear stop you?

What about Paul?  If he allowed fear to stop him look at all he wouldn't have accomplished for the Lord.  I could go on and on with stories from the Bible of how God used His people even though they were afraid. 

Can you look back through your life and see where you stepped out in faith even though you were scared?  Can you see where God took care of you through the fear?  I can, like the time we moved to a new state several years ago, or the time I taught my first class, or when I started this blog, unsure if anyone would read it or be blessed by it.

You see, God always takes care of us and He will see you through the fear.  Sometimes you just have to go through with things even though you are afraid.  You’ve probably heard the saying, “Do It Scared!” There are times when you will just need to step out there anyway and push through the fear.

THREE:

Lastly, we must praise the Lord no matter what.  I saw a quote not long ago that said "What if= fear; Even if= faith".  Think about that... all of these "what if's" can stop us.  What if this happens, what if that happens...?  Let's look at it this way, EVEN IF this happens, EVEN IF that happens, I will serve the Lord anyway.  I will remain faithful anyway.  I will follow God anyway. 

I love having a plan.  It's part of my personality where I love planning and scheduling.  Having a plan ahead of time ensures that you already know what to do in case something happens. 

When I taught school we had an evacuation plan in case of a fire, or a safety plan in case of danger.  Planning ahead in our lives in case disaster strikes will help us to navigate through the fear of the unknown. 

I encourage you to plan ahead to remain faithful to God and His Word no matter what.  No matter how hard life gets or what situation you find yourself in, God is good and He wants us to remain faithful.  It is easier to forsake God when things go bad, but determine in your heart that you will continue your walk with Him EVEN if things get bad.  Things won't stay bad, God will get you through. 

I remember the most difficult times of my life where I thought I couldn't go on, God came through, in His time, and He makes all things new.  If I turned on God or gave up, I would not be where I am today.  All the praise goes to God and for all He has done. 

To sum it all up- Know where the fear comes from, give your fears to God and move forward even though you're afraid, and have a plan to remain faithful no matter what.  You will not ever regret staying faithful to God. 

I read in a blog post that our greatest fears are where we trust God the least! Let that sink in... We must trust the Lord to overcome our fears.  He is in control. 

I found it helpful to make a list of my fears and pray over them asking God to help me trust Him more in those areas.  Will you trust Him today?  EVEN IF?