Take Fear Out of the Equation

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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