Overcoming Fear Through Christ....

Hi, y'all!

Starting Monday, I'm going to implement a new system. On months that have four Mondays, I plan to write four posts relating to the same topic. Months that have more than four Mondays will have four posts related to the same topic, followed by an additional post (either another post of the same topic or a post on another topic).

Today, however, I want to talk about fear. I'm personally afraid of several things. For example, I am extremely afraid of any kind of bug that stings. Seriously, if there's a wasp in the room, I'm outta here!

I'm not really sure where this fear comes from. I was stung by a wasp when I was little, but my fear seems to be a lot worse this year (I love flowers, but don't expect me to go near them unless they're in a vase in my house or it's freezing outside). Maybe it's due to the nest of yellow jackets that lived in our yard last year; we found out that they were in our yard, when the poor guy who mows our lawn was mowing near their nest. They were not happy about that and attacked him. I was inside at the time and still shiver at the thought of that.

Whatever the reason, I have literally been living in fear for most of the past several weeks. The weather's warmer, the flowers are blooming, and the bugs are out. I literally will not go check the mailbox when the mail comes.

Today, the opportunity came for me to take my dogs for a walk. I love my dogs immensely and spending time with them is one of my favorite things to do. I have felt too scared to venture out much with them recently and I really missed them.

I decided it was time to face my fears. No one can overcome your fears for you (not your husband, not your sister, not your mom, not your best friend). You just have to trust God and go for it. So, I prayed and I went. I enjoyed the walk very much, though there were couple of jumpy moments.

There are many Scripture verses about not fearing. Deuteronomy 31:6 is a personal favorite of mine. "Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.” (NKJV)

Did you see that? Not only are we told not to fear, we are given the reason we shouldn't fear!

"for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you." [emphasis mine]

As Christians, the Lord is with us. We don't have to fear anything. Though physical harm may come (everything from bee stings to physical death), spiritual harm can never happen to a Christian (separation from God eternally). Paul discusses this in Romans 8:31-39, another favorite set of verses. :)

Though the fears that we have may be real and though they may seem overwhelming, they can be conquered. Our fears can be conquered because if Christ is our Saviour, what have we to fear?

Sometimes you just have pray and then to go ahead and do whatever it is that you're afraid to do (assuming that it's not sinful). For me that was opening my front door and stepping out without turning around and going back inside immediately. It was running through the yard with my dogs, playing among the flowers. I was scared, but the result of feeling happy that my fears didn't rule my life, the result of feeling like I trusted God a little more than I usually do (I still need to work of the slight paranoia), was completely and totally worth it.

Whatever you do, don't become prideful. If you start thinking, "I'm the one who did this. I'm so great. I did this all on my own," you are completely missing the point. The point is glorifying God, not glorifying yourself. The point is not fearing because God is with us; not being prideful because *I* gained the victory on my own.

Now to figure out how to overcome my fear of sharks...I don't know if shark-diving is quite the thing, but I know I can have victory over that fear in Christ.

Victory is ours in Christ, sisters, let's act like it. Act with faith; act without fear.

In Him,

Trust Issues....

Hey, y'all!

Today, I want to talk about a rather uncomfortable issue for me; the issue of trust. Trust issues are something that many people struggle with, including me. Quite honestly, I can't pinpoint why. My family is great, my friends are amazing, my puppies are the most adorable ones in the world, so why do I have trust issues?

Maybe it's because I've given my heart away to several guys when they didn't earn it (and some of them didn't deserve it). Maybe it's because when I was young one of my close friends "abandoned me" (though all she really did was move on). I just don't know why I have problems trusting others.

What I do know is that I wasn't made to live this way; I was not made to live in fear of being hurt. I was not made to live in fear of being ridiculed and embarrassed. I simply have come to my breaking point. I cannot, I will not, go on living in this fearful manner. It's ungodly and damaging to my spiritual life.

It's damaging to my spiritual life because I am essentially saying, "I don't trust God with relationships enough to let Him control what happens to me and what other people do." That is an ungodly attitude, if I've ever heard one! Paul says in Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." (NKJV) Instead of fearing the future, what I should be doing is thanking God for the present and trusting that, because of His goodness and love for me, He will not allow anything that doesn't in the end turn out for my good to happen! Now, this doesn't mean that you will never get hurt. We are all sinners, so even Christians will sometimes hurt other Christians. We may even not mean to hurt each other, but we still do, whether we mean to or not.

The promise of Romans 8:28 also doesn't mean that if your best friend suddenly finds someone else to spend her time with, eventually she will become your best friend again. God does do that, but He doesn't promise to always do that. He promises that no matter what happens, it will be for your good in the end. The circumstances may have changed a big part of your life, but there is always a reason. You will prayerfully grow closer to the Lord through the tough time. And additionally, you may become closer to another friend, whom you never would have gotten to know as well had your best friend not taken a step back.

As human beings, we were made to have relationships with one another. Most of us are not made to stay in a room by ourselves all the time and never see anyone else. I know I can't. I'm a very social person, even though I'm extremely shy, and staying by myself for too long would drive me crazy! Yet oftentimes because of my fear, I am afraid to speak with others or even smile at someone. My personal shyness cuts me off from people; my shyness comes from fear and lack of faith. Fear and lack of faith harm my relationships with God and with other people

Relationships are a blessing from the Lord, but they do involve big steps of faith. Faith that the other person won't betray your trust, and faith that, if they do, God will take care of you, no matter how much the broken relationship hurts. Faith is a gigantic step, but it's a gigantic step in the right direction.

So, no matter how scary it may be to talk to a new person or say yes to that cute guy when he asks you out on a date (assuming he is a Christian, but that's for another post), you should step out in courage. No matter what happens, God is there with you. "The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore." (Psalm 121:7-8, NKJV)

I would love to hear your thoughts on this! God bless you and always remember, "Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6, NKJV)

Love in Christ,