Fear: A distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.
Fear can drive us to do all kinds of things: spend money we don’t have, isolate ourselves, and even stop living a full life. But, what if we chose to live fearless? How much greater would the impact be? What would our lives look like?
This month I decided to ask some of my dearest friends and family to write a blog on the topic of fear, and how they’ve overcome it. Fear comes in many different sizes, situations, and circumstances.
In a day with suicide bombing, “random acts of violence”, shootings, nuclear threats, terrorism on the rise, and diseases with “unknown” causes and “unknown” treatments, it is natural to be fearful. As believers, we are not GIVEN the Spirit of fear. Fear causes us to retreat, hide out, and stay quiet. Again, we are human. But through Christ, and Christ alone, we can press past our fear. We can overcome.
“They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” Revelation 12:11
Incredible power and strength come when we share our story. Because of Christ, we can brag in our weakness, shortcomings, humanity because it is Christ in us, the HOPE of glory! He is our only hope. It’s about His strength in our weakness that allows us to be overcomers and fight past our fears.
“The wicked flee though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.” Proverbs 28:1
This is NOT about pulling ourselves up by the bootstraps and being fearless in our own strength! We don’t have it in us, we are fragile, timid and quite incapable.
In the Bible, God refers to us as sheep more than 200 times. Why? We are fearful, stubborn beings that need A LOT of help. Psalm 23:2 says, “He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters” I once heard someone say, it was quiet waters because the noise of a stony brook would have scared the sheep!
Fear is something we are born with; but, it is not from God. It is a part of this sin-cursed world we live in. But, we can overcome dear friends!
Sometimes, sharing our story is a very real fear that we have to overcome. But, when we share our stories we experience a strength we may never have known was there. I like to think of a soldier on the front lines. When he shares his story, I picture him reaching down and linking arms with another soldier. We are a stronger force against the enemy when we link up. We need each other in this fight. We are not made to do this alone, we cannot do this alone without paying a higher price than we can afford. When you get knocked down, you need someone to pick you up. When I get knocked down, I need someone to pick me up. Maybe through some of these stories, you will be lifted back up. That is my prayer at least.
I hope these testimonies will bring courage to your hearts and minds! GREATER is He who is in us than he who is in the world. God is for us. He is with us. He is our strength. He is our fearless commander and we can trust Him to lead us in this battle called life.
“It’s not our story of struggle, but His story of rescue” – Rebekah Lyons
Song for the week: Walking like Giants, by Stars Go Dim
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