It’s been almost two weeks since I shared my biggest fear, that Really Big Fear of pornography. Or, should I say, the absense of my not talking about pornography…
Something I’ve known for years I was called to stand up against.
Leading up to sharing that fear, I warmed myself up by sharing four other fears I struggle with very often. Four other fears that frustrate me, overwhelm me, and sometimes control what I do or say.
You can catch up by clicking through these:
Fear of love. Loving others and being loved back.
Fear of pursuing God, or perhaps not pursuing God.
Fear of not being able to afford college in the fall.
Fear of not graduating this May.
Fear of pornography and not speaking up.
I thought that by sharing some of my biggest fears I would be less afraid. I thought that maybe if I gave fear a voice instead of holding my fears inside…maybe the fear would begin to shrink in size. Maybe I would be less scared or nervous, and would have the confidence and courage to overcome those fears.
And you know what?
It worked.
Now of course I’m a work in progress. It’s not like all my fear went away immediatly after I would hit ‘Publish Post.’
Of course not! But there is so much freedom in knowing my fears are out there for the world to see. And you know what? I’m not alone.
You aren’t alone, either.
In whatever you’re afraid of, scared of, nervous of, terrified of…you aren’t alone. Someone somewhere is afraid of the same thing. Someone somewhere can relate.
There are some fears that shouldn’t be acted on. Fear of spiders crawling all over you, for example, would NOT be a fear I would suggest you overcome by going out tomorrow and living your fear.
Umm…no. Please don’t dump spiders all over youself.
But some fears DO need to be thrown to the wind and left behind. My fear of love will keep me from really loving and accepting love in return, if I am unaware of the fear. But when I’m aware and am working towards pushing through the sweaty palms and racing heartbeat and flying around thoughts…then I can really love.
For you it might be something different. I don’t know. I don’t know your deepest, darkest fears. But you do. And you know if they can or should be overcome.
Some fears are healthy -like a fear of a terriorist attack- but some aren’t healthy at all.
We should never let our name be attached to some fears. They don’t belong in our lives controlling us.
This past Sunday I heard a message at church that revolved around doing. Doing what you know you should do, when you know you should do it.
Over and over again the pastor said
just do it
Do what you know you should do. It can be that simple. It really can. No matter the fear or the possible rejection or mean words, just do what you’re called to do. Just do it, and do it well.
Don’t wait for tomorrow. You might not get tomorrow, we don’t know.
But we do have today. So lets live in today, shall we? It took me a few years to really get it, to just do it, but I’m beginning to understand:
It’s never as hard as you build it up to be. Taking the action, saying the words, doing what you’re called to do…It’s possible. You can’t put it off any longer. Someone else will come along and take action, say your words, complete your task. And then what will you have missed out on? What joy will you never know?
That’s just it.
You’ll never know.
A guy at church shared a story about how he had the opportunity to share the Gospel with a co-worker last week. The co-worker was basically asking to know the Gospel, but the guy was too focused on his task to realize the opportunity. The next time he came into work he found out his co-worker had been in an accident and had died.
His opportunity was over.
Just. Like. That.
In the blink of an eye it was gone.
Since then another co-worker has approached him and asked a few questions about God.
He didn’t miss the opportunity this time. His eyes were open. He shared that the fear of what the co-worker might think no longer seemed important, no longer could control him.
Because he was too focused on the fact that he may never have another shot. There are no guarantees that we’ll be around next year, next month, or one hour from now.
What fear do you have that needs to be overcome?
Just share it. Let it out. Open up your mouth, speak up, shout it out, type it out….
Just do it.
