Job 39:22-25
He Laughs at fear, afraid of nothing, he does not shy away from the sword. The quiver rattles against his side, along with the flashing spear and lance. In frenzied excitement he eats up the ground; he cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
Letting Go of Fear
Okay. Everyone’s always talking about facing your fear. But what if some fears are fears that no one should have to face? For instance, my greatest fear are house fires and wildfires. I quiver at the thought of them. You’d imagine I’d be use to them, after all, I live in the plains. But no, the minute they enter my mind, I start picturing myself in them, experiencing the most painful death. It’s not that I’m afraid to die. Why would I be? Who wouldn’t want to leave a scary world and enter the most beautiful, peaceful world? But that I’m afraid of the experience. Yet, you see, that’s the problem in this wold; things are scary.
Casually saying, I’d say I’m a fairly fearless person. I love adventures and I am not afraid to push out of my comfort zone . . . anymore. (I’ll write about this more in the future.) However, we recently ventured to Mexico and truth be told, that place rattles my bones. You have probably heard stories from there. In me I knew God would be with me wherever I went. Yet the thought of going to a place where incidents occur regularly wasn’t on my bucket list. But I have family there and I do miss family. (Some people simply don’t find Mexico scary, then again, they don’t hear stories.) Nonetheless, this was something that was going to happen and I couldn’t stop it. I knew I had to let go of my fear.
Fears like wildfires, earthquakes, shootings, robberies; they will always stay–no one should have to face those fears. We need to let go of them. The thought of them will always stay scary, but through Christ we can learn to face the thought of them without fear.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea. Psalm 46:1-2 ESV
Fear is defined as a belief that someone or something is dangerous or painful. Does living without fear mean you won’t find things painful? No, but that we know God is with us and he is “a very present help in trouble”. When we believe and live this passage, we can learn to let go of fear, focusing on God.
Facing Your Fear
Facing your fear is very realistic and up front. It’s not like letting go of fear. Letting go of fear requires faith and inner strength that only God can give. Facing fear would somewhat compare to life with no limits. I’m not saying go jump off a bridge, onto a thin layer of ice—there’s a difference between fearless and thoughtless. A person needs limits in life, otherwise we’d go insane. But we shouldn’t let fear limit ourselves. We should let wrong or right limit ourselves, not fear.
Fear of failing often limits our success, fear of heights often limits our adventures, fear of trying often limits our life. They always say live life to the fullest, how can we do that if we’re to afraid to try? Would you rather look back later and say fear never stopped you from trying or would you rather look back and think you lived a fearless life? Like when you get on a roller coaster for the first time, go sky diving or bungee jumping, you’re scared out of your mind! During the ride it’s not so much fun, but wait until it’s over; you think back how awesome that was. You’re so happy with yourself that you did it, you feel fearless.
Fear of failing is a very shameful fear. No one likes to have a conversation explaining their failure. Your neighbor might ask you, “So why didn’t you continue? What happened?” Shamefully you answer, “I was afraid I’d fail.” Not a very pleasant conversation to read, huh? How much worse to speak it from experience. When we let fear control our goals, when we let fear of failure stop us, then we’ve already failed. If we let fear of failure stop us from trying, then we’ve already failed.
Fear is not an excuse. Fear is not a reason to quiet. Don’t let fear hold you back, don’t let fear be the thing that limits you’re life. Let the power of God give you strength to let go of fear, let His never ending love surround you. That you and I may rise with a fearless soul.
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7
The Farmer's Daughter 