God has not given us a spirit of fear but of sound mind, power and love. – II Timothy 1:7
I love this verse. Paul was reminding Timothy what God saw when He looked at him and how God created him. Even though this is such a great verse, let’s just be completely honest – most of us don’t walk through life without fear. Instead, our dreams, vision and purpose are paralyzed by fear. For years, I struggled with fear of rejection.
I was a fifteen year-old kid who watched my dad become a heroin addict and then got in a fist fight with him. He threw me out of the house and said these words: “you are not my son!” It was there that the root of my fear began…
I never wanted to be rejected like that again. I didn’t understand at the time that my dad needed help and that I was not a bad son; I only took away that I was not good enough. So I spent years trying to prove myself…that I was good enough. When I gave my life to Jesus in 1996, it was the greatest decision that I had ever made. I began a great journey of healing. Fear was still very prevalent, though. In fact, I took that same fear into my relationship with God and others. I aimed to please, always fearing rejection. When I was rejected, I would shut down and very quickly isolate myself from the world. This cycle went on for years until one day God began to show me that I was good enough by what He did on the cross. He created me to the tiniest detail and everything He saw was good. I began to embrace the truth of His word in Psalm 139 – that I was fearfully and wonderfully made. That the wonderful thoughts that He has towards me, outnumber the grains of sand. There were so many verses in the Bible that pointed to me being accepted and not rejected. So now every time this voice of fear would pop up, I could combat it with truth.
But this is just one fear. God continues to deal with these fears in my life. I thank God today because He has helped me change these mindsets that I used to have. I don’t have to fear rejection. I can make decisions based on what I hear God telling me and not follow others. I have been set free from trying to get the crowd to applaud just to affirm my gift and calling. I don’t spend my time thinking of what I can do for God so that people will see that I am great. Instead, I desire to be a part of what He is already doing and realize now that it is not about me, but it is and has always been about Him.
Here is my encouragement to you. The quicker you identify the root of your fear, the quicker you can begin the beautiful journey of everything God already planned for you.
Don’t let fear paralyze everything that you were meant to be!
Don’t let fear steal the great things that God has planned for you!
Today, embrace courage and dig deep down in your heart, find the root and let God start dealing with that fear. You were made for so much more…you were made to live and love not afraid.
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