Do You have a monster hiding under your bed or lurking in your closet? For many people, the monster that they battle is fear. I was a police officer for almost 30 years. I had a great career and got to do a lot of fun things. There were also many, many times when things got a little scary. At the time, though, there was a mission that had to be accomplished and once your training kicks in, you really don’t think about being scared. Afterwards you might think about it, but not at the moment.
As Annie and I prepared to move to Brazil, I was confronted with fear like I never had been before in my life. Everyday, in my mind questions kept popping up. “What if…?” “What about…?” “Are you sure…?” There were some days when these questions were like waves pounding inside me. Of course, anytime you are trying to do something for God there is going to be opposition.
Do you ever feel like that? Do you ever struggle with those kinds of questions? Fear has the power to control our lives and paralyze us if we let it. It makes our problem look big and it makes God look small. If we listen to the voice of fear, it has the power to keep us confined in our small, safe, little life, afraid to take any risks or live the exciting life that God has for us.
Here are a few questions to ponder:
1. What are we afraid of? Is there something that you know you should do but have let fear stop you? I love the story in Matthew 14 where Jesus comes walking across the lake to his disciples who were being battered by the waves in their boat. For some unknown reason, Peter called out to Jesus, “Lord, if that is really you, tell me to come to you walking on the water.”
This makes no sense and defies all logic. Peter can’t walk on the water. Jesus can but that doesn’t mean Peter is going to be able to pull this off. I would have expected Jesus to tell Peter, “No, Peter. Just stay in the boat. It is safer there. You know you can’t walk on water!” Instead of telling Peter to stay where he was, Jesus said, “Come.”
Peter was willing to risk it all and step out of the boat at a word from Jesus. In reality, the safest place on that stormy lake was with Jesus. I don’t know what the will of God is for you but I do know where it is. God’s will for you is just beyond your comfort zone. For Peter, that involved stepping out of the relative safety of the boat to the dangerous unknown to go to where Jesus was.
What has fear held you back from doing?
*Maybe you feel like you need to up your level of financial giving but you are scared there will not be enough to pay the bills.
*Is there someone that you know you should invite to church but you have let fear of rejection keep you from doing it?
*What about that business that you keep thinking about starting? Has the fear of failure kept you from pulling the trigger?
*Has fear kept you from pursuing that career that you have always dreamed of?
To be Continued…
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