I have been wrestling with my own personal deep seated fear. I didn’t realize it at first. I thought I was a little bit sad, perhaps. Maybe a bit under the weather, just a little bit restless, or so I told my friends. But that wasn’t the problem. I am deeply afraid that what I want to happen in my life – what God has promised me – won’t happen.

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”  — I John 4:18

My fear is a lack of trust, probably the worst (and easiest) thing for me to do. It almost feels good, thinking that I’m not good enough for God to do what He has promised me through His word and through the words of the authorities God has placed in my life. It feels like some kind of perverse modesty or humility, thinking that I am too evil to be used by God.

But that’s incorrect thinking. I’m not big enough or bad enough to interfere with God’s will. That certainly does not mean that I can do anything I like and expect to have the ministry or life that I want. It doesn’t mean that my free will doesn’t matter. It doesn’t mean that I am predestined to greatness or ruin regardless of my actions. It means that God, my Father, knows His kid is going to mess up. He also knows the plans He has for me, plans to prosper me and not to harm me, plans He has had since before He formed me. What I have to do is trust my Father, walk in the path He has laid out, and trust some more.

“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.”  — Psalm 91

Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.
– Author Unknown

One of the most difficult things in life, is the execution of a thought or a decision. As humans, failure is an ever-present distraction looming over us. We strive to make a firm decision, but when action is required, we shrink away. Of course, this is not always the case, but many people do struggle with completing everyday tasks. A decision is the first step to completing a task–the rationale and source of the action. However, what is it that makes action so difficult?

It is faith! Fear and faith are two contagious diseases that spread as wildfire when given the chance! It took faith from the Apostle Peter to step out of the boat and walk on water, yet he trusted that the Lord would make a way. Matthew 14:27-29 says, “But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.”

In this passage, Peter makes a decision to trust in the Lord and move out from the boat onto the water! Perhaps if one thinks about his life, how many actions have you taken that feel similarly? Action is really all about faith. Action takes courage to believe in not just a Higher Power, but a mighty, sovereign, gentle, supernatural, One God that can most certainly “do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us” (Ephesians 3:20). The power of doing, is just that–the action that takes a thought or an idea and turns it into something. Action is not just something that we doing with our hands or feet, but our mouths. Sometimes verbal action is the most difficult, but the most rewarding. Words have incredible power! They have the power to destroy or edify! God gave us power from on High, and the power of doing is the Holy Ghost working through us through every action and word.

Does knowing all of this make actions easier? Probably not. But remembering that God is always there to catch us when we fall might help on the fear of failure. Our decisions are valuable and powerful, but what we do is a defining factor of our entire lives. No pressure, right?

So the question is…what have you been doing lately?

Late! If there is one thing that I can’t stand, it’s being late. I usually leave early so that doesn’t happen. But then I worry I am too early, and whoever I am meeting won’t be ready for me. Isn’t that as rude as being late? Well, that’s not a concern today. No sir, today I am good and late. I try to subdue the panic rising in me as I drive. “What if I get in trouble? I’ll say that I was… oh! I’ll say I was helping an old lady cross the road. Yeah, can’t get in trouble if I’m late because of that! That is awful, though, shame on me for planning to lie like that.” I finally convince my other eye to open and equipped with two bloodshot eyes I realize my socks don’t match. “Great! Just great.” I save everyone else the trouble and yell at myself as I sit at a red light. “Come on, Amanda! Why can’t you get your act together?” I drum my palms against the steering wheel; I feel a little shaky as panic starts to get the best of me.

Wait! Life has a tendency to put us through the wringer. Yet in the midst of my panic in the car, I realized God doesn’t ask us to beat ourselves up for our mistakes. Our God is a God of peace, trust, and perfect love. I don’t propose being totally still in the presence of God when you are supposed to be driving. But we have the option to calm our spirits in His presence and remember that He is God. He has control of our lives and He knows what is going on. It’s a bit like a boat ride that Jesus and his disciples took. While Jesus was asleep in the back of the boat, a storm arose of such severe degree that even the experienced fishermen were sure they were going to die. Their boat was full of water, so they woke Jesus up:

“And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?”  –Mark 4:38-40

It may seem to us like our ship is sinking and God is sleeping on the job. But we don’t need to be afraid! We can have perfect peace, even in the midst of all the troubles that life can throw at us. With just a word from His mouth or a touch of His hand, Jesus can restore the peace in your heart. No matter what storms may rage around us, Jesus has the power to calm the turmoil, inside and out.

Even focusing on things such as the path that God wanted me to take would break my attention away from God. This in itself didn’t catch my attention until I started seeing myself worry about what I was supposed to do, who I was supposed to be, or what I was being made into. I had to realize that those things weren’t for me to control or think about. So many times we worry about where we’re going, who we’re going to marry, where we’re going to work, what kind of ministry we will have, or how we will buy a new car — instead of focusing on Jesus. That’s what this article is truly about: Jesus becoming our main focus. Why do we constantly worry about who we’re going to be with for the rest of our lives when Jesus is making us into who we need to be for the rest of our lives? Why do we worry about our job when God is molding us into a better worker?

When Jesus becomes the very center of our lives, everything else can fall into place because we’re not trying to doing it in our own power. And why would we try to do these things in our own power? When we try to do that we just mess things up.

I believe that Jesus will become the center of our lives when we can be fully stripped of all our “strengths” hopes and desires. So many times people tell us to “be strong” or “toughen up,” when Jesus really wants us to become broken before Him. When we become broken before Him we become pliable. And what better time for God to mold our lives into the way that he wants us to be than at that time? To let Jesus become the center of our lives we first need to become broken. At that time we lay every fear, every doubt, and every dream down at His feet. At that point we are showing God “we trust you with everything in our lives and we’re not going to worry about any of it because it’s all in your hands”. That is perfect trust, and I guarantee that is when you will see your life unfold.

So stop worrying about your life. Stop letting “that special someone,” where you will work, or who you are becoming be the center of your life and try and let God become the very center. Who better to revolve your world around? He’s God. And I know He is able to take care of you. Let God be God.

When you get scared you can ask God for His peace, too, and He will provide it for you.  There are two verses that helped me. The first can be found in II Timothy 1:7, “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love and of a sound mind.” The second verse is I John 4:18, which says that “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”

Like the title, “God is Bigger Than The Bogey Man”, God is and forever will be bigger than any fear in your life. Even when it seems that there is no one you can turn to, God is always there!

Sometimes we have things we’re afraid of  that we don’t tell other people about, because we are embarrassed about it. Just remember that there are thousands of people in the world, young and old, that have the same anxiety as you. Whatever your fear is: if you’re scared of spiders or snakes, the dark, being alone, or even death – God can and will give you His peace. All you need to do is ask Him. “Ask and it shall be given you.” Remember, God has not given us the spirit of fear, so you don’t have to be frightened any more!

Those two words comprise the opening line of many lame jokes, so much so that when heard, the victim typically begins to groan before the second “knock” is uttered. But, being a good sport, the poor wretch selected for this joke of a joke will usually reply, “who’s there?”

As I was praying the other day, I found that God was revealing to me that the some of the things I’m afraid of or unsure about are actually part of God’s plan for a greater relationship with him.  And this is not a new thing. Here is the picture that came to my mind.  It’s hard to convey but I have tried and I hope it helps you somewhat.

Imagine yourself sitting in a shell of self protection. This shell has not been formed because you don’t desire to do something for God; although not everything is crystal clear, of course, generally it hasn’t been formed because you don’t understand what to do. But for whatever reason, it’s been programmed in your mind that its better not to do anything “abnormal” and stay in this shell, because then you can control and minimize the damage and pain if something backfires.

Maybe it’s a weird concept, but if God were to come to you in this state and ask you to do something for Him, that request might be something that would seem to be dangerous or wouldn’t make sense to you. But that’s because we can’t see past this shell of “damage control.”  The knock comes on the outside of our little shell: it’s Jesus calling us to a dimension of increased faith.

We hear the knock, but our “stinkin’ thinkin’” tells us that this voice — this knock — is just another failure waiting to happen. Jesus is shaking our little shell and our mind thinks it’s a horrific event. But breaking out of that fear will liberate us to see things we couldn’t see before. It will allow us to experience things we’ve dreamed of, but never imagined that they might be just outside the limits we’ve put on ourselves and on God.

In fact, the very thing you are afraid of might be what God is calling you to do. Does it seem scary right now?  Fear of failure, of what others think, of rejection, and of emotional pain: all of these bombard our faith, telling us to stay in the shell. “It’s safer in here.” But staying in a nest is not how you learn to fly.

I’ve found out over and over again that once you step out on His word, there’s nothing greater!  Talking an absolute stranger into being baptized is one of the most amazing things that has ever happened to me. Most recently, the “sacrifice” of time He asked me to make is turning out to be one of the sweetest parts of my day. So over this next week I would like you to ask yourself, and search your heart — is there something your afraid of? Maybe it’s a big thing, maybe not. But ask God again “is this you calling me?”

I challenge you: the next time your knees begin to knock with fear, ask “who’s there?”

Thing is, fear is very hard to overcome by yourself. Isaiah 41:10 does say, “Have no fear for I am with you be not afraid for I am your God” and “God hath not given us the spirit of fear but of Power of Love and a sound mind.” I knew all this, yet it still didn’t hit home. Every day I endured this painstaking fear. It grasped me with ice-cold fingers and would not to let me go. I staying up all night long with fear clutching at me.

My experiences were not fun to go through, but I think it was a crucial part of my walk with God today. You see, the whole experience was preparing me, training me, to rely on God. When I put my mind to to thinking on things that were Holy, Just, and True the fear seemed to cease. But the funny thing about fear is that it doesn’t go away the first time. You have to conquer fear over and over and over again. My struggle went on for about two and a half years. Finally one night I went to God for the bazillionth time and for once . . . just surrendered. I gave it all up. With no more hope left, I knew it wouldn’t end unless I gave my fears to God.

That night I changed. God came into my life and did what he said He’d do in the scriptures: He gave me a sound mind. In that instant He also gave me authority over my fear, so when it tried to rear its ugly head again I could claim that which was given to me in the name of Jesus!

Maybe this sounds complicated, or like it’s something only a handful of people can do. But I’m here to tell you that there is hope and there is a God that wants to give you a fearless life. I thank God as much as I can for that victory and hope that God will give you victory as well.

Has God given you a fearless life? Do you want to reach the place where love and hope overwhelm your fears? Share your story in the comments.