Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Take Fear Out of the Equation

http://www.tradingphrases.com
The stress of the unknown weighted me anxious. I had an opportunity to pursue...a decision to make. A stirring deep within concocted a desire to explore. I didn't know why, but I knew that I must.

I knew that good would come from the exploration. Earth-shattering change was not eminent. Altering my life was not required; but inspection, scrutiny and analysis of situation and self demanded action. Yet, I froze...suspended in a nebula of confusion and fear.

Questions that I did not want to answer hovered. Undesirable scenarios loomed. A visual of potential hurt feelings flashed in my mind's eye. Threats of failure danced around me. Doubts circled and sang what-if?

I  locked eyes with a Godly friend and whined
"I need someone to make this decision for me. Tell me what to do and I'll do it."

"Explore it," she decided...quickly.

"I was hoping for a different answer," I sighed.

Then, she offered instruction. "Take fear out of the equation. Now, what do you want to do?"

I smiled. "I want to see what this is really about."

She returned my smile with one of her own, "Then, that's what you do."

So I explored. And I learned. And I grew.

In its unhealthy form, fear is, at best, an obstacle...at worst, it is an agent of paralysis and atrophy. When removed from the equation, fear is left without power and the right choice rises to the surface.

"And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, 'Hush, be still.' and the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And then He said to them, 'Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?'"
  -Mark 4:39-40




8 comments:

Wendi@EveryDayMiracles said...

Thank you for this Angela, I really needed it this morning!

Merana Leigh said...

I truly rely on what the Holy Spirit told me once, that has stuck with me (oh, ok....and needs reminding from time to time!): If I keep situations/decisions before the Lord & am seeking His will, "If you don't have a peace about it, it's not from Me." FAR too many times I wish I'd listened to that one! "Fear not" or "be not afraid", I believe, I read is in Scripture 33 or so times. I guess we just really need to LISTEN!

BTW, love the answer your friend gave, "explore it"!

So glad to have found you. Hope you'll follow me here at hopefulawaiting.blogspot & my other blog quietministries.blogspot.

Hugs ~ Merana

Cherie Hill said...

LOVED this Angela! Thank you SO much for stopping by my blog! I will, in turn, be stopping by here more often to be encouraged in my faith!!!!
Blessings,
Cherie

Unknown said...

Beautiful! Loved this post because I have let fear paralyze me before and it isn't pretty. Thankfully our God is bigger and I know I can run to Him and He will take my fear from me.

elizabeth embracing life said...

Fear is NEVER from God. Surrendering those unknowns is not always easy, but so refreshing when we do. Great post.

Deidra said...

Yep. Good words here. Fear gets too much power, doesn't it? Exploring, on the other hand, sounds like a fun adventure!

Anonymous said...

I haven't blogged in awhile but I'm picking it back up. Going through my own old posts and comments and I found you. :) Look forward to reading more.

Bonnie J. Christensen said...

Everyone needs an "Iron sharpening Friend" who fearlessly follows God and spurs us on with wise words like, "Explore it"!

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