Dear Father, thank you for this day, and this time to spend in Your Word. Please remove from our minds any distractions, any fears and worries that might prevent us from giving ourselves this gift of Your Word. Thank You for ordering our day so that everything that needs to get done, will get done. Help us to be at peace, and to spread that peace like a wildfire to everyone we encounter today. In the name of Jesus, amen.
We talked the other day about the need to just say it out loud when we are afraid. It takes the power from fear. Sometimes we are too afraid even to admit we are afraid. We are fearful to give the emotion more power. But you know what, saying it actually depletes its power!
Read through some of the Psalms. So often David, the author, begins his songs with admitting he is afraid, even terrified at times. He calls it out to God and then recites what He knows about God. God is my fortress, my shield, my defender, and so on.
David was on the run for decades from the King, who sought to take David's life. David had real reason to fear, but he didn't sit in fear and do nothing.
Taking positive, appropriate action is always more powerful than remaining immobilized.
What you learn today again, will sound simple, but it will be one of the most important tools you will ever possess to reduce stress and eliminate the power of fear. Are you ready for it?
Move Toward Your Fear.
What?? That sounds contradictory and if you were afraid of a tiger stalking you in the jungle, I would agree with you. Most of what we are afraid of is not life or death, but even if it was, moving toward your fear, instead of avoiding it is amazingly powerful! Why?
Because taking action frees up your mind to problem solve. Even one small step will get you out of neutral and begin the force of motion, in your mind and in your spirit. You will instantly feel powerful instead of weak, competent instead of ineffectual.
A Fear Faced is a Fear Erased.
So much of what we are afraid of exists only in our minds. And even if what we are afraid of happens, we keep breathing, we keep moving forward, we get on the other side of it at some point and go on until the next problem comes up.
Do you know what puts it into perspective for me? I've told you this before: Any day I don't bury a child is a good day. Keeps it all lined up straight for me.
The fact of that is, I have buried a child, and guess what? As wrong as it seemed to me at the time, the sun still came up the next day. I got past even that. I didn't get past it in a day or a year, and in some ways I will never recover completely, but I lived. I survived.
God forbid it happens again, but it could. I can't go through life being afraid it might happen, because the truth is every one of my kids is going to leave this earth at some time. We all have a purpose and a design and on this side of heaven a lot of it doesn't make sense to my little human mind. That's why I'm glad God is bigger than me.
Read Psalm 56:3 and write what who it says we can trust when we are afraid?
_________________
So we can stay immobilized and apathetic by what might happen, or we can take action and know for certain what we can do today, and trust the rest to God.
I love this quote but don't know who said it first, so if you do, let me know:
"Change only happens when the pain of holding on is greater than the fear of letting go."
It's like when a small child is holding onto the monkey bars and below, a parent is standing with arms outstretched saying, "Let go, I've got you." The child won't let go unless he trusts the parent completely, or can't hold on anymore and has no choice but to act, and let go.
The longer we hold onto thinking about what we fear, the longer we spin our wheels, the longer we convince ourselves we can do nothing, the more power we feed the fear itself.
In his first inaugural address, in 1933, Winston Churchill said "So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."
So, what do I suggest? Go back to the five minute concept.
Do one small thing, be it only for five minutes, that will help you solve or understand your problem. Take five minutes and make a list, make a phone call, set a date. Set a timer and work for five minutes on the project you are most avoiding and dreading.
It seems simple and it is. And it works. You will be amazed at how competent, powerful, and effective you feel after just doing one small thing, anything, towards facing your fear down and taking action. It's amazing!
I want you to go do something right now. It might be as simple as taking five minutes to start gathering your supplies to clean the messiest room in the house, or taking five minutes to organize just one kitchen cupboard, or making one phone call to that attorney you've been dreading to make.
Get on the other side of what you are dreading and fearing today! Say the prayer below with me, and then go do it! I'm rooting for you.
Dear Heavenly Father, I want to thank You for giving us the answers when we are afraid. Thank you for supplying us with powerful words to wield at our spiritual enemies. Lead us to look up scriptures on fear when we need Your Power. Help us to take action instead of letting fear immobilize us. Give us courage to do just one thing, or for just five minutes, so we can be conquerors and not slaves to our emotions. In the name of Jesus, amen.
Love, Karen
Photo by Bionic Media, courtesy of http://www.photoxpress.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your comment.