What is fear? According to Webster fear is an unpleasant, often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger. Fear is such a strong emotion that it can wreak havoc on your life if you let it. In ministry I was taught two different acronyms for the word FEAR! (False Evidence that Appears Real) or (Face Everything And Rise). Depending on the situation you can see how both acronyms would be applicable.
Recently my younger sister and I saw a scary movie titled FEAR and it literally had me jumping in my seat with anticipation and my heart racing during every scene. The suspense was literally taking me out with all the thoughts running through my head of what was gonna happen next. In this movie the characters had to think about the one thing that scared them the most and share it with each other. Ultimately that one thing either made them or broke them. They had to make a choice to move in faith or fear.
What a lot of people fail to realize is that faith and fear operate the same way. What is faith you ask? According to Webster faith is complete trust in someone or something. The Bible teaches us in Hebrews 11:1 that faith is being confident of the things we hope for and to be certain of things we can’t see.
When you believe in something you give it power. Whether that’s believing in something good or bad. I’m super afraid of spiders even though I’ve never been bitten by one. Every time I see one, my heart starts racing and I feel myself panic. I immediately notice a spider dropping down from a tall ceiling on a web. It happened to me one time in church. I was right in the middle of praise & worship with my hands lifted and in my peripheral vision there it was. I jumped so fast and almost screamed. I know you’re laughing. It was a funny sight. I just don’t do spiders; they give me the heebie jeebies. Is there something you are deathly afraid of? Think about it, that fear could be paralyzing you in that area of your life. If you let it, fear will cause your life to stand still because of the power it has over you.
One time my pastor did an illustration about faith. There were 3 chairs up on the stage with 3 people standing in front of them. He told them to sit down and all 3 of the sat without hesitation. He explained that none of them thought about how the chair was going to hold them up, they just knew by faith it would. Had any of them been afraid it would break; it would have caused them to stand instead of sitting due to that fear.
How many things have you paralyzed in life? Only you can answer that. How many of you have never left your city for fear of being hurt? Or haven’t flown on an airplane because you’re afraid of heights? Never being able to experience beyond your reach because you are scared. You’re living in the land of what ifs and full of anxiety. Do you realize worry is a down payment on something that may never happen? We cause ourselves unnecessary stress and discomfort because of the fears that we allow to take control of our minds.
I want to encourage you as I encourage myself. Challenge yourself to overcome your fears one obstacle at a time. Shoot, I even killed a spider in my room the other night! There was no one here for me to call so I had to put on my big girl panties and handle business. Each of us has fears that are paralyzing us and causing us to not operate at our full potential. A mind is a terrible thing to waste and instead of focusing on all the things that will go wrong, think about what is going right! You got this! I believe in you, and I believe in me too!
Let us continue to stand in FAITH (Fight Away Irresponsible Truths and Heal)! We got this!!
Sending you love, light and positive vibes,
Cassie K.
**Always remember to LIVE life to the fullest, LAUGH at everything and LOVE unconditionally!**