This week I’ve been thinking a lot about fear. Fear is everywhere. Everyone is afraid of something. I can’t even begin to count how many pointless fears I have. But lucky for us, we have a God that is bigger than every fear we could ever have!
This summer my cell core for Chi Alpha (a small group of leaders for support throughout the year) is reading “A Fresh Look at Fear” by Dan Baumann. Dan was doing some mission work overseas in the Middle East when he and a friend were imprisoned in Iran. Throughout this book, Dan tells his story. In the midst of his darkest hours, when he was most afraid, God was there and protected him. Even when he had lost all faith in God and was trying to kill himself, God stayed by his side.
This is one of the most important things to remember in our lives. Fear can easily cloud our judgement and turn us away from God. Do you know how many times the Bible says not to be afraid? 365 times! You know God means it when he says it that many times! So why are we so afraid of things like spiders or our future? One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 3:5-6 which says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will lead your path straight.” It says it right there. All we have to do is trust God. He has great plans for all of us. There is no reason to be afraid when He has our back.
I was so afraid when I was first asked to be a Chi Alpha leader. My first thought was to run in the other direction as fast as I could. I was so scared I would be a bad influence and that I wouldn’t do a good job at helping other girls my age grow closer to God. I was going to turn down the offer. Then I came home for Christmas break and God was obviously telling me I needed to do this. I read it in my Bible, my pastor talked about leadership in church. I swear everywhere I looked, God was shouting at me “Cheyenne! Trust me! You need to be a leader!” Finally, I set aside my fears. I put my trust in God and allowed him to lead me. Since then, I have grown an astronomical amount! I’ve already helped some of my friends grow closer to God and I’ve grown more confident in my ability to talk to people about Jesus. I would never have had the confidence and the courage to write this blog without God. He took away my fear of leading and helped me to rely completely on Him.
That was only one area of my life though. We need to give up our fears to Him in every aspect of our lives. Unfortunately that’s easier said than done. But as Philippians 4:13 says, anything is possible with God. The more we allow God to take control of our lives, the less fear we will have because we know He will provide for us. That’s all it takes. Trust in God, and He will take away your fears.
I’m just the daughter of a small town girl… living in a scary world without fear.
Just a Small Town Girl dot dot dot 