When I'm faced with a task or find myself challenged with something new, my brain goes on question overload. How am I suppose to do this? What will people think? What if I fail? Is this what God really wants me to do? What if I mess up? What if I steer someone in the wrong direction? What if no one responds? The list goes on and on and on and on... There are so many questions I ask myself before even responding. The reality is that these questions, which are really an expression of doubt, disbelief and a lack of faith, are produced by fear. After forty-three years of living on this earth I have learned one thing... FEAR IS EXHAUSTING!!!
This is not God's will for us! Knowing our weakness when it comes to fear, God constantly reminds us in His word that we have authority over fear and can overcome it by simply activating our faith. It is said that the words "Fear not" are mentioned in the Bible 365 times. That equals to one time a day for every day of the year. It's like God knew we would need a DAILY reminder to fight against our 'natural' proclivity towards fear.
I had a moment about a month ago where the Pastor of my church asked to meet with me the following morning. This immediately made me nervous and the questions began... Why does he want to meet with me? What did I do? Did I do something wrong? I was quickly interrupted by another text requesting that I pray prior to our meeting and see what God says. The funny thing is that made me even MORE nervous when in fact prayer should have been my FIRST response. So instead of praying, I went back to torturing myself with a barrage of questions. After wearing my self down and crying a bit, (this all happened within a three minute time frame), I finally prayed. Immediately, God responded by calmly saying 'I will never lead you to a place I haven't prepared you for." In other words, if He brought me to it, He'll bring me through it. Although I felt a little better, 'fear' still wanted a little more detail so I asked God if He would give me a hint as to what the meeting would be about. He said, "Before the Pastor ask you the question he is going to ask, say YES!" Wait... WHAT??? What am I saying 'yes' to? What will I have to do? What does that even mean? With more calm than words can describe, God repeated, "Before he asks the question, say yes!" The following day I went into the office and the Pastor started with "so did God say anything to you about our meeting?" I told him that God said to say yes to whatever he is about to ask. He yelled, "HALLELUJAH!" He wanted to know if I would be interested in leading one of our church ministries. After hearing this, fear again crept in. This time however, as I sat in the office God began to speak to my heart. He reassured me by whispering, "I have prepared you for this. This is your season. This is what I've called you for. You were made for such a time as this." There was so much more. I left the office fully confident that whatever comes next is totally in God's hands and I felt such a peace come over me. The next day God gave me a six-month plan for the ministry.
One thing I learned from this experience: approaching every task with fear takes way more energy than responding in faith. It's super exhausting. With a faith response, I don't have to be concerned with the 'what ifs', the 'how', the 'who' or the 'why'. I simply have to TRUST that God will take care of EVERYTHING. In 2 Timothy 1:6-7, Paul instructs Timothy to stir up the gifts that are in him. He follows that by reminding Timothy that God did not give us the spirit of fear. Fear does not come from God. What God DID give us was the spirit of POWER, LOVE and a SOUND MIND. My Bible says that "ALL things work together for those who love God and are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28).
David, one who God described as "a man after His heart" (Acts 13:22) had to deal with his own fears.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for You are with me. (Psalm 23:4)
The Lord is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear? (Psalm 27:1)
I sought the Lord and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears. (Psalm 34:4)
When I am afraid, I put my trust in You. (Psalm 56:3)
When anxiety was great within me, Your consolation brought me joy. (Psalm 94:19)
The Lord is with me, I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? (Psalm 118:6)
God told Joshua multiple times "Do NOT be afraid." In Joshua 1:9 He said, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."
Here's the thing, the only way to combat fear is to take a leap of faith. Today, I find myself once again asked to do something I've never done before and in front of an audience. My response this time is to take a chance and go all in. I will never know what God can do in me and through me unless I try. It's the same for you too. I believe that you are reading this because God has something special in mind for you as well. Challenge yourself to take a different approach this time. Just do it... and see how God moves.
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