This Fear Has Got to Go
Am I the only person who looks at someone achieving the dream they have and think “I wish I were that bold.”, or “That’s great that they can have the opportunity to do what they want.”?
And why can’t we? It’s because there is something called fear and self-doubt standing in the way.
2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us the spirit of fear but one of power, love and sound judgment.”
1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love: instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears is not complete in love.”
I am made complete in the love of Jesus Christ. There is no need to fear. The fear and doubts that are holding you back are thoughts you put into place in your mind from a certain time in your life.
It is time to face those doubts, face that fear, and those thoughts head on.
Fear of Failure
I know what it feels like to have God tugging on my heart about a situation and I feel doubt slipping in. I feel the fear of the unknown slipping in. We begin thinking about all of the “what-ifs”. What if I fail? What if it doesn’t work like I think it will? What if I look silly doing it? What if people don’t like what I have to offer?
These thoughts are more common than most people would like to admit.
Well, I admit it. I know when I’m facing a doubtful or fearful thought and then I have a decision to make. Will I allow this to continue to hold me back, or will I face this issue head-on and allow God to defend me?
Look that situation in the eye and speak against doubt and fear. This is the devil’s worst nightmare. You and I facing the fear that he has put into our minds is what he does not want to happen.
Secretly Fighting Battles
Not too long ago, I battled for many many months about doing something I felt compelled to do. I wanted to create videos. It’s something that I felt for quite a while that the Lord was impressing me to do this. I did one video and it was received so well. It encouraged me, but not enough to let go of the fear that was holding me back. I would create videos and then delete them as soon as I played it back.
The tugging of the Lord kept growing stronger and so did the fear and doubt.
There was a huge wall standing in my way and I allowed it to stay there. I would see other people doing great things for the Lord through video and I wished so badly that I could be as bold as them. I wished so badly that I could just jump in and do this thing that I felt compelled to do. But I did not.
One day I was listening to someone speak and they talked about how the devil loves it when we secretly fight these battles. The battles grow stronger and stronger and we feel there’s nothing we can do about it.
Then this speaker said something that I needed to hear at that moment. It was something that I have known for a long time but I couldn’t gather the boldness to do. She said that the best way to defeat the devil and combat the fear that had taken hold was to call it out in public and face it head-on.
And that’s what I did. I set up my equipment and told myself that I could not delete this, no matter what it looked like, what I sounded like or how I messed up. It was being posted regardless of what I thought about it.
Facing Fear
The video had only one purpose, and that was to face the fear head-on. I didn’t have a “theme” for the video, I had not thought of something cute to say beforehand, I had not come up with “bullet points” to focus on for this video. I just talked. I was real, raw and authentic.
This is something that needed to be done. I’m facing a fear that I’ve had and I’m not letting it hold me back any longer.
Posted by Faith Family and Miracles on Tuesday, January 22, 2019
As I was creating this video I could literally feel the weight and heaviness of the fear that I had been letting hold me back, begin to lift from me.
I began to make a little sense and then actually have a focus on what I was saying, I began to relax and allow my true self come out through the video. By the time I was done, I was elated! I was ready to create another video. And I did.
The wall of fear and doubt that had been standing in my way for almost a year had crumbled at my feet. While I didn’t care what others thought of the video, I received the most comments and engagement than most anything else I had done. People are craving something real.
While coming to the realization of what I was allowing hold me back, I had to ask myself a question and I had to be honest about it. Why? What was I truly afraid would happen if I created videos and actually posted them?
I was bold in other areas of my life so why wouldn’t I allow myself to break through and do what God was calling me to do? When I honestly answered those questions, I could then do some deep soul-searching. I pinpointed the source of these feelings and emotions and I asked God to help me deal with them.
Focus on the Source
This is an important step that so many people want to side step and not focus on. If you can’t be real and honest with yourself, then can God really use you the way He wants to?
Take some time to pray through some issues and directly pinpoint the true reason fear is allowed to raise its ugly head in the first place. You just might find yourself being free of many issues that are tied to that one thing.
God has a work for you to do and the devil knows that if he can keep you pressed down as long as he can, the work isn’t being done. Regardless of what you feel is holding you back, it’s time to face that fear. It is amazing the freedom you can feel by facing issues and allowing God to do a work in the midst.
Fear and doubt have got to go.
