fear...final chapter

with the last couple of posts about fear, i have come to realize that many things have caused me to be unnecessarily fearful in my LIFE. i have actually come to realize that many of these fears are needless and pretty petty. so, with that in mind, i thought i would finish this mini-series with a more practical approach to fear.

as you face today, one thing is certain, you WILL be faced with opportunities for fear. whether you choose to give in to those opportunities or not is completely up to you. you can choose to fear the future, the economy, the election, the monday night football game, or whether you will wake up or not. you really can choose to fear each of these things and more.

first, let's look at what fear is defined as:

a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid. (www.dictionary.com)

second, let's look at it through this lens...

can i really trust God?
i think that's an important question, and rather than give anecdotes, i'm going to leave it at your feet. i know we all have fears...some are good--like the fear i have of snakes--i'll never get bitten if i consciously stay away from snakes (unless one sneaks up on me). some fears are crippling to us--like a phobia--which keeps us from doing something we might like to do. yesterday, e-dub missed out on a chance to go with d-money and a few of the neighbors on an excursion that ended with them being able to shoot bb guns. e-dub wanted to go but there was one HUGE problem...maggie. our neighbor's boxer was going on the trip. so e-dub's fear crippled him to the point of not being able to leave the driveway to just walk across the street to their house and hop in the truck. definitely a fear that kept him from something he wanted to do.

i realize e-dub will probably avoid being bitten by a dog simply because he avoids them at all costs, but some day, he might miss out on something AMAZING because of his fear. i also know that for me to simply look at him yesterday while he stood in the driveway and tell him to just "trust God" wouldn't have worked. he has to EXPERIENCE a God worth trusting...

if we trust God it's because we see Him as trustworthy. i don't trust politicians because i don't see them as trustWORTHY. i think they ALL lie. i think they ALL mis-lead us. i think they ALL are a little bit shady...even the ones who have the approval of focus on the family!

i think learning to trust God only comes when we actually meet God. not knowing ABOUT God, or our family's faith, or our spouse's faith, or a faith we read about in a book. trust comes when we have faith in a God that we KNOW intimately and personally, and before you know it, our fears of the little things tend to vanish, then BAM, we're trusting Him with big fears, decisions, and plans...

just a thought.