I remember when I was 16 and prom was coming up quickly and after encouragement from my friends I decided I was going to ask this girl to go with me. I remember rehearsing (dozens of times) in my mind what I was going to say and finally I felt confident and was ready to make the call. And then a rogue thought entered my mind. What if she says no? What if she is way out of your league and she laughs you off? What if she tells everyone at school and they all make fun of you and no one ever goes out with you again? Isn’t it better to not risk making the call at all? I wrestled with these questions over and over again. I got sick to my stomach, I started sweating, I froze. The power of fear was real in my life that day.
I have had the opportunity to see people come face to face with the power of fear in their lives. Sometimes fear raises its ugly face when big decisions are ready to be made like what classes should I take, what job should I take, who should I date and sometimes fear bullies us on little decisions like chocolate or strawberry, iphone or galaxy, PC or Mac. On a deeper level I have seen people come face to face with the decision to believe in Jesus and give their life to Him and be hit by an tsunami of fear – What will people think? Am I good enough? Can God really forgive me? What will I have to change in my life? Will I lose control over my life? I have seen people be emotionally paralyzed as the power of fear grips them.
The power of fear is real. Fear makes us respond in unusual ways – from screaming at a small spider, to isolating ourselves because we fear people won’t like us, to being angry and perhaps even violent. The truth is fear always steals who we are. Fear is always trying to bully us from being and doing what we were made to do. The power of fear can change the trajectory of our lives.
But, I am learning something about the power of fear. It is real but it doesn’t have to have power unless I give it that power. And the really amazing part is that when we stand up to fear and conquer it, something more powerful gets released in us. Think back to the last time you were fearful and you faced the fear and went through it. Do you remember the feeling of confidence and accomplishment that flowed through you? Do you remember the feeling of being powerful and successful? God knows this about us. God encouraged those of us who struggle with fear by having Paul write in 2 Timothy 1, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” God knows that when we resist fear that the true wiring and passion of us would come out. He knows that we were made for power, love, and self-discipline and that when we reject fear, we will experience more of who we were made to be.
I have also had the privilege of watching people conquer fear and be unleashed into being new people. I have seen the power of God be ignited in someone as they walk in freedom of fear. I will never recover from experiencing people who pick Jesus over their fears. When the power of fear is put in its place and people walk in the truth of who they are, amazing things happen.
Fear has no power unless we allow it to happen. I know for some of us, the past has beaten us up and fear seems like an overwhelming opponent, but there is encouragement in the truth that it really is just a bully that is stealing from us. There is also encouragement from Romans 8:38, “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.”
Isn’t it time for the power of fear to take its rightful place in our lives? What if fear didn’t influence us? What changes in our lives when we begin to live with in freedom with power, love, and self-discipline leading the way? We change. Things change. The world changes.