Who isn't afraid? We fear everything: sickness, lack of money, losing our jobs, speaking in public, getting fat, getting old, what we just said or didn't say. We fear for the people we care most about - fear that they will be hurt, in an accident, or in a bad relationship. All kinds of fear. Fear can paralyze us. Fear of failure. Fear of success. Fear keeps us from sleeping soundly. Fear distracts us from our jobs, our school work and our relationships.
Fear is bad. Fear is killing us. Fear takes everything good out of us - robbing us of real life.
That's why the Bible talks about it so much - maybe more than anything else, from cover to cover, we are advised: DO NOT BE AFRAID! Because He knows what it can do, how it hinders us and keeps us back from what we are intended for. The only thing we're told to fear is "the Lord" - but that's a different kind of fear, it's more like respect - like electricity, don't fear it, just respect it, honor it for what it is. If we feared electicity we'd never turn on the lights.
A couple of my favorite motivational sayings are: 1) "what would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?", and 2) "do one thing every day that scares you". Easy to say, hard to do. But it's always worth trying, everyday, for the reward it gives us.
In 1 Chronicals David says "do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you". And in Mark Jesus said "Don't be afraid, take courage, I am here". And in 2 Timothy Paul reminds us "for God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline".
If nothing else, be reminded everyday that Fear can have a very negative impact on your life - so knowing that - attempt to do away with it. I'm a bad example of someone trying to avoid fear, because for one reason, I love horror movies - the scarrier the better (I always end up going alone). But actually these aren't the things that make me "fearful". We all have different fear buttons.
We could do some pretty sorry things if we had no fear - so some aspect of fear is good. BUT - what could you do, what would you do, if you weren't afraid? How much more productive and influential could you be? What ledge would you walk out on? What risk would you take? Where would you go? What mountain would you climb? Who would you talk to?
How great could you be, if you weren't afraid?
The Northern Frontier District (NFD)
5 years ago
2 comments:
Fear is paralyzing. I can't imagine not being afraid. Each day I try to pray and remember that God is in control, so whatever happens, is going to happen, right? But something will always grab a hold on me and that fear eases its way into my mind, slowly taking over every thought, every emotion I show. My biggest fears lye with my children. I mean to have children ranging in age as I do...mine are 20, 11, and 2. Each of them is in a different stage in their personal lives and I fear for them. My 20 year old son recently (we've hit the one year mark) has come out of a state where he was fearless. No, he isn't hiding behind Mom's skirts right now, but he understands some fear is a good thing. You can't do anything you like and not fear that consequences will fall. My 11 year old, when he began kindergarten cried nearly every day I took him asking me,"Why are you doing this to me?" I would try to make him feel better by telling him about all the wonderful things he would be doing. The new things he would learn, the new friends he would make. He was overly fearful. His teacher told me he always did fine once I left. But each day I picked him up he would let me know what an awful day he had, the "worst" of his five year old life. And the next day we'd start all over. We had a couple of good years, but now he is in a stage of rebellion, and we are constantly having to reign him back in. He will tell people, I get yelled at everyday. Then I laughingly reply, "Yes, his mother is a true tyrant." I'm really trying to learn from past mistakes. I did not discipline my first son and he had some major struggles by the time he was 16. My thinking was if I let my second child know where boundaries lye, the difference between right and wrong perhaps I will save him from the grief his brother suffered. My two year old, is at the moment careful and fearless, does that even make sense. It is fun to watch her. She is sort of like an experiment in a sense. I pray for her to grow into a person that loves life, loves others, and most of all loves herself. Having a small degree of fear, but not being afraid to put her own personalized stamp on this world.
I apologize, my words are at times, most times all over the place. This mind of mine is just so FULL of thoughts. I wish I could delete the cookies and history of my mind, that would be nice.
Hi, shout back when you have time...this is Jamie from Atlanta. I've written a couple of blogs on this site, a few on hub pages. Most of my peace is found in writing on my Shutterfly site. Immortalizing the smiles on all the kiddos' faces. Happiness only, no gloom and doom. I not crazy, just very busy. I am thankful that God has seen fit to give me a very supportive husband. One who happens to be named Scott ( two t's). If I did not have him, I probably would be completely nuts! LOL :)
Great perspective - real life gets a hold of us everyday, ya, real life- starts in the morning and manages to keep going until we lay our heads on the pillow at night. We all live with fears and I do believe we fear most for our children (because they mean the most to us - and we know the world is a dangerous and unforgiving place to be). this week was a wake up call for me - look for my next post. have a great week - make it powerful and fruitfull. scot
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