I started challenging this fear I sought to destroy it the best I could by challenging myself to do that which I was afraid to do. I began trying out for solo's and eventually obtained that goal. From then on my goal was to sing a solo in front of as many people as possible. My reason behind it was to prove that I was no longer afraid to do it.
I tried out for the Alabama Allstate Choral Festival every year (Thanks to Mr Nance my first choir teacher for bringing it to my attention). My goal became to get a solo in one of the songs there because the audience was much larger than any I had ever had a chance to sing in front of before. Unfortunately I was unable to meet that goal.Nevertheless I don't consider it a failure. It wasn't for lack of talent or lack of trying.
Sometime in high school I believe it was my Junior or Senior year God revealed to me just what happened. He began teaching me about fear. He taught me what exactly it was and just how much it effects our lives.
It's been a long time since God revealed to me the the power that fear has on us. More accurately the false power it has over us. I say that because when we are in him, when we've truly become one of his children fear no longer has any place in our lives.
2 Timothy1:7
" For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."
As long as we have assured our salvation in him we have absolutely no reason to fear anything. Not death, not torture, nothing. It may sound crazy but ever since God opened my eyes to fear one of the practices I use in dealing with it is to think of the worst case scenario for what I've found myself in fear of. The absolute worst thing I can see out of any situation is death. As I stated before that's really nothing to be afraid of at all. I don't necessarily recommend this tactic to most of you but it works for me.
Matthew10:28
"And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."
Isaiah 54:17
"No weapon formed against you shall prosper,
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,
And their righteousness is from Me,”
Says the LORD."
It's mostly because God has opened my eyes to it but I also analyze the fear that I come up against. I step back and take a look at what truly brought me to that point of being afraid. Most of the time I find that being afraid of whatever it was was pretty much just an irrational notion. In the case of my singing it would go something like this:
"Why am I afraid to sing on stage in front of those people?I might mess up. What's the worst thing that can happen? I get embarrassed. Is that a good reason to be afraid? No. OK so then I have no reason to be afraid.
I have often said that there is no good fear. I know some of you would argue and say "What about spiders and snakes and other things that can hurt us?" Or "What about the fear of God?" As for that I will get to it in a minute but first. It's ok to have a reaction to something such as a spider or a snake but to let the simple sight of such things send you into a full on panic mode is not healthy. If you truly understood those creatures you wouldn't be nearly as afraid of them as you might be now.
I'm not saying you should go out looking for snakes and spiders and whatever but use your brain. If you're unsure of how dangerous something is just avoid it you don't have to be afraid of it. In fact fear has a way of hindering us from being able to think and to slow us down when it's necessary to flee. Ever heard of a deer in the headlights?
Well one could argue that it's the light that causes the deer not to be able to see that makes it stop but the point is if you let fear overtake you then you won't be able to act when it's truly necessary. I have been frozen in fear before so I know such a thing happens.
My point in saying all this is that I believe it's my duty to share what God has shown me regarding fear. So the next several posts will be exactly that. I haven't perfected my fearless walk with Christ yet but I know as I share what I know God will speak to me as he has in the past. Often times you learn more about something when you try and teach it than you ever could when studying it. At least in God's way of doing things. I hope you all get as much out of this as I do.
