I hate Fear. He's an old nemisis of mine. He's relentless and has no mercy on me. Every time I wish he wouldn't be there to breathe down my neck and whisper hateful words in my ear, there he is.
First he showed up after I took several tumbles due to lack of coordination and my untied shoes. I broke my collarbone and also have a permantly uneaven forhead (which my mother likes to remind me of every so often. Thank goodness it's not noticable to everyone else.) as a reminder. Ever since then, I've had a fear of falling. I even walked looking down at my feet for years because I did not trust my feet could walk in a straight line if I didn't watch them closely. After that, the fears multiplied. I wouldn't open up as quickly to people, I wouldn't try new foods, I wouldn't speak up, I wouldn't give anything my best effort, I wouldn't share any of my talents with anyone or wouldn't do anything to stand out or be seen. By Freshman year in High School, Fear had restricted me so much that all he had to do was sit back and laugh at me as I tried to manuver through life with a leash around my neck that he controlled.
Something I learned later on was that Fear turns us into puppets and he is at the end of the strings controlling our movement. We shake and tremble and give into his control. No amount of tears or sleepless nights make him go away.
One night while at a Christian youth conference in Portland, Oregon, a speaker taught on, "What is the anthem of your life?" At the end of his sermon, he asked the crowd, "What is the one word that God wants to define your life as?" If you didn't know and wanted to know, he asked yo to come forward to the front and seek God about it as he prayed for us. Thousands answered. I couldn't even get halfway up the isle. So, right there, I got on my knees and asked, "God, what is the ONE word you want to define my life as?"
"FEARLESS."
I will never forget that night. It was such a pivitol moment for me. I found out that God called me to stand out and lead...fearlessly.
From that point forward, everytime I felt Fear whispering in my ear, "You can't do this. You're going to fail and eat the dust at my feet in shame," I grabbed a hold of his puppet strings and ripped them right out of his weak, pathetic hands.
Fear was so strong in my life because I GAVE him that power. I obeyed him and believed his lies. As soon as I rebelled against his reign in my life, he became weak and pathetic. His weakness was my rebellion against him.
Yes Fear still comes back to accelerate my heartbeat and make me doubt myself, but I have refused to listen to him so many times that it's natural to ignore my fears and be fearless. Courage and bravery is not the absence of fear. It's feeling fear and pushing past it to get done what you set out to do.
I will never be a winner if I am fearfull. Being a winner takes courage and requires risks to be taken. Fear is right, I will never amount to anything...if I listen to him.
It will be hard the first time you go against your fears. My first time I failed because I chickened out last second. However, I got back on my feet with new resolve. I didn't want to be a sissy loser any longer so I tried again and suceeded. The key is to not hesitate. The more you think about it, the less likely you'll follow through.
Want to be a winner? Become fearless.
First he showed up after I took several tumbles due to lack of coordination and my untied shoes. I broke my collarbone and also have a permantly uneaven forhead (which my mother likes to remind me of every so often. Thank goodness it's not noticable to everyone else.) as a reminder. Ever since then, I've had a fear of falling. I even walked looking down at my feet for years because I did not trust my feet could walk in a straight line if I didn't watch them closely. After that, the fears multiplied. I wouldn't open up as quickly to people, I wouldn't try new foods, I wouldn't speak up, I wouldn't give anything my best effort, I wouldn't share any of my talents with anyone or wouldn't do anything to stand out or be seen. By Freshman year in High School, Fear had restricted me so much that all he had to do was sit back and laugh at me as I tried to manuver through life with a leash around my neck that he controlled.
Something I learned later on was that Fear turns us into puppets and he is at the end of the strings controlling our movement. We shake and tremble and give into his control. No amount of tears or sleepless nights make him go away.
One night while at a Christian youth conference in Portland, Oregon, a speaker taught on, "What is the anthem of your life?" At the end of his sermon, he asked the crowd, "What is the one word that God wants to define your life as?" If you didn't know and wanted to know, he asked yo to come forward to the front and seek God about it as he prayed for us. Thousands answered. I couldn't even get halfway up the isle. So, right there, I got on my knees and asked, "God, what is the ONE word you want to define my life as?"
"FEARLESS."
I will never forget that night. It was such a pivitol moment for me. I found out that God called me to stand out and lead...fearlessly.
From that point forward, everytime I felt Fear whispering in my ear, "You can't do this. You're going to fail and eat the dust at my feet in shame," I grabbed a hold of his puppet strings and ripped them right out of his weak, pathetic hands.
Fear was so strong in my life because I GAVE him that power. I obeyed him and believed his lies. As soon as I rebelled against his reign in my life, he became weak and pathetic. His weakness was my rebellion against him.
Yes Fear still comes back to accelerate my heartbeat and make me doubt myself, but I have refused to listen to him so many times that it's natural to ignore my fears and be fearless. Courage and bravery is not the absence of fear. It's feeling fear and pushing past it to get done what you set out to do.
I will never be a winner if I am fearfull. Being a winner takes courage and requires risks to be taken. Fear is right, I will never amount to anything...if I listen to him.
It will be hard the first time you go against your fears. My first time I failed because I chickened out last second. However, I got back on my feet with new resolve. I didn't want to be a sissy loser any longer so I tried again and suceeded. The key is to not hesitate. The more you think about it, the less likely you'll follow through.
Want to be a winner? Become fearless.