When I’m first getting to know someone I like to ask them questions. Questions are such a great and natural way to learn more about a person. (A little more natural than stalking them on facebook.) Questions show that you are interested. One of my favorite questions is, “What are you afraid of?” That’s such a classic question. “What scares you?” For some people it is clowns. For others it’s spiders. Some folks are afraid of being alone. And some are just afraid of the dark. I hate answering that question though. (This probably means I shouldn’t ask it.)
Honestly, I don’t like to admit that I am scared of anything. But there are things that I fear. Now none of my fears would cause me to have a panic attack or run away screaming, but there are some times when I get scared. Rejection, dying young, not fulfilling my purpose – these are just some of my fears.
God has been speaking to me a lot about fears lately. I read a piece on Donald Miller’s blog the other day and I was instantly confronted with truth. He was talking about being scared to say the closing prayer at the Democratic National Convention. Don writes, “Fear is always a sign that a great story is about to be written (or not, depending on how you respond.)” Fear is such a great way to keep you from doing something. It’s great at holding you back. What better way to keep you from accomplishing a life goal than fear? What better way to keep you from connecting with the person who could change your life forever than fear?
I have a lot of dreams that I would love to accomplish in life. I do believe that I have a purpose. Many times when I find myself pursuing my dreams or trying to live in my purpose I encounter fears. Lately, when I encounter these fears I try to take a moment to pause. I ask myself what’s the worst that could happen? I could be rejected (been there, done that & survived). People could say mean things about me. (I don’t give too much credit to people who say mean things.) Or, quite possibly, the situation could actually turn out for the good. Now imagine that. The thing is I will never know how situations will turn out if I let my fears control me. I will never come closer to living in my purpose if I’m too fearful to pursue it. I will never know how much a relationship can change my life for the better (and maybe other lives) if I’m too scared to invest myself in another person.
God says that where He’s present, fear shall not reign. He says that He takes care of the flowers in the fields and clothes them with beauty and splendor – He says that He will take care of us with even more love than He shows the flowers. It really comes down to “Do I trust Him to take care of me and the situations I am in when I encounter fear?” I believe that God has certain plans for my life and certain ones for your life; plans that are so great we can’t even imagine them. But, now here’s the question, how will we ever get to experience those great plans if we’re too scared to move?
No comments:
Post a Comment