What Are You Afraid Of?
I don't know about you, but I LOVE scaring people. I will go to great lengths to make these scares the best they can be. I've hidden for hours just to make some possible. Have I ever taken it too far? Of course. Have I ever been punched? Yes. But oh so worth it! There's just something so thrilling about striking temporary fear into someone like that.
Fear is a crazy thing because it has so many different voices, and disguises itself in so many different ways. It could be the fear of walking through a dark house. The fear of what other people think about you. The fear of who our next president will be.
What are you afraid of?
Personal Story :
Driving home late one night this week, we pulled onto our street to see a fire truck with all its bright shiny lights sitting, what appeared to be, right in front of our house. The very first thought as I turned the corner, saw those lights, and slowly approached were, "Our house burned down... We don't have a fire alarm that would have alerted us... We're about to a pull up to a fireman telling us that our house is gone..." I pictured every bit of it so vividly and this all happened in less than 2 seconds. Turned out that it had nothing to do with a fire and as we got closer I could see they were several houses down. This was just something small I let slip in.
Okay, let's go broader.
The Elections :
Unless you've been living under a rock for the last year, you probably have felt a little concerned about the upcoming elections. You can't turn on the TV, get on Facebook, or go out into public without facing something to do with the elections. By no means is this me pushing one way or another, but hopefully pushing you toward seeing the uselessness of fear, disguised as worry and concern.
In Psalm 55 we see King David crying out to God. David is essentially telling God how his own thoughts are troubling him. How his "heart is in anguish" and "the terrors of death" are falling on him. Fear is overwhelming him. I won't go through all 23 verses in this chapter but he continues on with this theme until the last two verses.
"Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken. But you, God, will bring down the wicked into the pit of decay; the bloodthirsty and deceitful will not live out half their days. But as for me, I trust in you." Psalm 55:22-23
Those thoughts continued to drive fear into David because he first had to allow them in. He had to choose to listen to the voice of fear over God's voice. I'm not saying that you will never have a thought related to fear go through your mind. What I am saying is that you have a choice to cast your cares on God and trust in Him.
You can choose to not let fear creep in when you're home alone and instead trust in your Protector. You can choose to not let fear dictate the decisions you make. For too long you've let the fear of what others think about you hold you back from your true, God-given potential. Trust God with the gifts he's given you. You can choose to trust God with the outcome of the elections. No matter who is in office, God is still God and that is who we serve.
As fun as it may be to scare someone, it is no fun living in fear. So today, ask yourself the question, "What am I afraid of?" Identify those fears and cast them on God. If you choose to trust in Him, He promises you will never even be shaken!
Real quick, I just wanted to say thank you for all the support over the last couple months! The stories I've already heard have been incredible. Not only have I heard stories from people I know, but from those I don't know about how this has impacted them. All of which has been made possible through you 'sharing,' 'retweeting,' and 'forwarding' the info along to those you know. So thank you again! If you're new or haven't already, put your email in below and never miss another Monday morning post again!
We're just getting started and I know the best is yet to come!