Time for Change

So this week I have been thinking a lot about the four letter "F" word. 

Come on…you know what word I am talking about!!  FEAR!  

Haven't we all been gripped with fear at some point in our lives?  At some point we have dealt with fear-fear of uncertainty, fear of sickness, fear of failure, or fear of rejection.  I even developed a fear of roller coasters in my 20's after I had been riding them for years.   What about good fears like buying a house, getting married, or going back to school in your 30's, 40's, or 50's? 

Fear can immobilize us and cause us to not do anything.  If we stop frozen in our tracks we get nothing accomplished.  We might get stuck working on one of our fears or we might get stuck moving forward with something good.  If I had given into fear I would have never gone back to school. 

The beginning is the most frightful, but we have to get to work on what God is calling us to do.  Fear is like a constant dark shadow hovering over us.  It holds us as a prisoner within ourselves.  And let me tell you...sometimes they creep back up.  Apparently I have used the word failure one too many times lately and got scolded by a friend :)

Psalms 27:1 - The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?

All of the things that make us fearful come from people or circumstances in our life.  We forgot that if we stick to the promise of God's word then we have nothing to fear.  We have nothing to be afraid of.  What can people really do to us?  What about good changes God is calling us to make?  Is all of the hurt, pain, and suffering we deal with really going to keep us from reaching our eternal final destination?  Is stepping out in faith going to keep us from getting there?  Only if we reject God.  As long as we do what he asks then we have nothing to fear.  No matter how many times my ex husband tries to beat me down with his threats and hurtful ways, I have nothing to fear.  No matter how weary and worn down I get from dealing with the number of times he has dragged me into court, he cannot really kill my soul.  No matter how scared I am about making changes for the good in my life it will not really cause me destruction if I am doing what the Lord is asking of me.  God has a plan for our lives and when he is asking us to make changes we have to trust that he will be with us all the way. 

I love this quote used in my Bible study this week, which is kind of fitting for my life right now:

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."-Martin Luther King Jr.

Blessings!