Fear...fear is something we all face at some time or another. It can be small or it can be crippling. Some may face it every once in a great while and others face it every day of their lives. Fear can be brought on by accidents, people, wars, disease, governments, media consumption, and by simply being alive. I would venture to say that fear is interwoven into the fall of man, therefore it is interwoven into being human. However, to say that it's interwoven into the human experience doesn't mean that it should be; I truly believe that when God created humanity he never intended for us to be fearful creatures, in fact time and time again the Bible tells us not to fear. This is something that we did to ourselves. The second Adam and Eve messed up and everything came crashing down around them fear entered the picture and it came to stay.
Fear doesn't affect and interact with everyone the same way. Some people merely brush up against it time and again while others live their life constantly dancing with it and meeting fear around almost every corner they turn. Unfortunately, I am someone who has spent my entire life in the latter category. Throughout my life I have heard people use this acronym for fear: False Evidence Appearing Real, and I hate it. I hate it about as much as I hate people using the term Nazi flippantly to describe someone who's particular about something. Liking good grammar or whatever does not equate to wanting to wipe out an entire group of people, but thanks for playing. In that same way not all fear is invalid. Yes, some fears are irrational, I mean you're looking at someone who had a weird unexplained fish phobia for several years. Shout out to Bangkok for helping me overcome that one, when you have to walk through a fish market almost every day you kind of get over it. Maybe, the manifestation of the fear is false or doesn't seem rational, but I bet that 75% of the time the root issue causing the fear is very very real and valid. I'm not saying this as an excuse to allow fear to control your life, I'm just saying that we might want to rethink our approach to how we try to deal with fear. Yeah, the fish thing super weird and ridiculous; but, most of the other fear in my life stems from a real and legitimate root cause. It just took me a long time to realize that fear was playing a leading role in my life and then to link the fear back to the root cause. Rarely does fear just happen randomly, there's usually a root cause and if we want to effectively get rid of fear in our lives we may to face some real ugly, painful, and messy stuff. The likelihood is that we are going to have to let go of some stuff so we can grab onto Jesus and let him reveal things to us, heal us, prune us, and turn our lives inside out. Pulling out roots hurts like the dickens, but it's necessary.
There's this fantastic show that premiered this year that NBC needlessly canceled after one season called The Village (spoilers ahead). My favorite scene in the whole show features Katie and Liam; Katie is pregnant and she's in a minor accident. Liam rushes her to the hospital to make sure that both she and the baby are okay. At first the doctor is having a difficult time finding the baby's heart beat which, understandably so, sends Katie into a panic and complete meltdown. Liam rushes forward to Katie and turns her head to face him and says, "show me where you hold your courage," and the beautiful thing about that scene is that she does. Is it easy? No. Is it painless? No. Does this change anything about her circumstance? No, but she does it. She does it because her option is either panic or be courageous. In a moment where letting fear take control would be easy and understandable she manages to find her courage for herself and for her baby. In that moment fear didn't vanish, the situation didn't change, and circumstances didn't disappear, but Katie allowed courage to be what defined her in that moment, not her fear.
A sweet friend recently sent me the devotional 100 Days To Brave by Annie F. Downs and I'm not very far into it, but so far I am loving it. On day 1 Annie says this, "Courage is doing things even when you're scared. Being brave isn't something that happens when you're not scared anymore. Brave people don't stop hearing whispers of fear. They hear the whispers, but take action anyway." The Kaitlin break down of this quote is that courage is simply not letting your fear define you. This is easier said than done. Trusting God is not easy and it's not comfortable or painless by any means. They key is taking that time to fellowship with the Lord and hear what he calls you and pursue him and the identity he has put in front of you. When I think about pursuing God and the identity he has given you over your fear I think about Gideon.
The story of Gideon can be found in Judges 6:11- 8:35. I encourage you to go read it, it's powerful and honestly very entertaining. At the beginning of Gideon's story the Lord speaks to Gideon and tells him he wants him to go save Israel and calls Gideon a "mighty man of valor". Gideon's response is not a very mighty one, he is terrified and asks God for a sign and then another sign. He argues with God and tries to get out of the fight; he tells God that he's too weak, he's too young, he's not capable, and on and on. His fear is telling him that if he does this thing it will not end well for him and for a while Gideon gives into his fear. Now, let me say this, Gideon's fear was not unfounded. God was asking Gideon to go to war, you know what happens when people go to war? They die. It made sense for Gideon to be afraid. Yet, God kept calling him and kept speaking the truth over him. God spoke the truth, that Gideon was a mighty man of valor, until Gideon believed it. He spoke until Gideon believed in who God called him to be and until he trusted in God's ability to take care of him and fulfill his promises. When Gideon finally surrendered his fear to God and followed what God had called him to, he won. He went to battle and he saved Israel and he was written down in history as a mighty man of valor because he surrendered and in that surrender he found victory and freedom. Gideon's path to surrender was not and easy one. It was not comfortable. It was not painless. It was not particularly fun. It was Gideon choosing to walk in obedience. It was Gideon choosing to stop letting what the world had labeled him define him. It was Gideon deciding to stop letting his fear define him. It was Gideon being absolutely terrified and taking action anyway.
I don't know where the fear in your life stems from. Maybe it comes from illness, losing someone you love, abuse, assault, the media you consume, or maybe it's even a generational issue within your family. I don't know. I do know this my friends, first you need to identify it and you need to look it in the eye and face it. I know from experience, you cannot overcome something if you refuse to acknowledge that it exists. If you never admit that something happened, you'll never be free from it. Then you need to take it to the Lord and surrender it and ask him what to do. The path to freedom will look different for everyone. For some it may be a lengthy process, it may look like counseling, walking with a mentor, or just multiple sessions with Jesus where you are just laid out before him while he does his thing in your heart and life. For others it may very well be an instantaneous moment of healing at church, a conference, in your car, or in your room just you and the Lord. For me the process is, much to my chagrin, a lengthy journey filled with a lot of things I'd rather not have to do, I wanted the instantaneous healing and it's not what I got. However, I know that when this process is over I'll be better off for it and thankful and equipped to help others go through the same process. I don't know what it will look like for you, but I do know that it will only come through surrender and trusting Jesus. Isaiah 41:13 says, "For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, 'Fear not, I am the one who helps you.'" Whatever your process is going to look like, I promise, he will be with you every step of the way.
A sweet friend recently sent me the devotional 100 Days To Brave by Annie F. Downs and I'm not very far into it, but so far I am loving it. On day 1 Annie says this, "Courage is doing things even when you're scared. Being brave isn't something that happens when you're not scared anymore. Brave people don't stop hearing whispers of fear. They hear the whispers, but take action anyway." The Kaitlin break down of this quote is that courage is simply not letting your fear define you. This is easier said than done. Trusting God is not easy and it's not comfortable or painless by any means. They key is taking that time to fellowship with the Lord and hear what he calls you and pursue him and the identity he has put in front of you. When I think about pursuing God and the identity he has given you over your fear I think about Gideon.
The story of Gideon can be found in Judges 6:11- 8:35. I encourage you to go read it, it's powerful and honestly very entertaining. At the beginning of Gideon's story the Lord speaks to Gideon and tells him he wants him to go save Israel and calls Gideon a "mighty man of valor". Gideon's response is not a very mighty one, he is terrified and asks God for a sign and then another sign. He argues with God and tries to get out of the fight; he tells God that he's too weak, he's too young, he's not capable, and on and on. His fear is telling him that if he does this thing it will not end well for him and for a while Gideon gives into his fear. Now, let me say this, Gideon's fear was not unfounded. God was asking Gideon to go to war, you know what happens when people go to war? They die. It made sense for Gideon to be afraid. Yet, God kept calling him and kept speaking the truth over him. God spoke the truth, that Gideon was a mighty man of valor, until Gideon believed it. He spoke until Gideon believed in who God called him to be and until he trusted in God's ability to take care of him and fulfill his promises. When Gideon finally surrendered his fear to God and followed what God had called him to, he won. He went to battle and he saved Israel and he was written down in history as a mighty man of valor because he surrendered and in that surrender he found victory and freedom. Gideon's path to surrender was not and easy one. It was not comfortable. It was not painless. It was not particularly fun. It was Gideon choosing to walk in obedience. It was Gideon choosing to stop letting what the world had labeled him define him. It was Gideon deciding to stop letting his fear define him. It was Gideon being absolutely terrified and taking action anyway.
I don't know where the fear in your life stems from. Maybe it comes from illness, losing someone you love, abuse, assault, the media you consume, or maybe it's even a generational issue within your family. I don't know. I do know this my friends, first you need to identify it and you need to look it in the eye and face it. I know from experience, you cannot overcome something if you refuse to acknowledge that it exists. If you never admit that something happened, you'll never be free from it. Then you need to take it to the Lord and surrender it and ask him what to do. The path to freedom will look different for everyone. For some it may be a lengthy process, it may look like counseling, walking with a mentor, or just multiple sessions with Jesus where you are just laid out before him while he does his thing in your heart and life. For others it may very well be an instantaneous moment of healing at church, a conference, in your car, or in your room just you and the Lord. For me the process is, much to my chagrin, a lengthy journey filled with a lot of things I'd rather not have to do, I wanted the instantaneous healing and it's not what I got. However, I know that when this process is over I'll be better off for it and thankful and equipped to help others go through the same process. I don't know what it will look like for you, but I do know that it will only come through surrender and trusting Jesus. Isaiah 41:13 says, "For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, 'Fear not, I am the one who helps you.'" Whatever your process is going to look like, I promise, he will be with you every step of the way.
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