Overcoming Fear - Part IV

Fear-Less

By Max Lucado

“Envision a day, just one day, absent the dread of failure, rejection, and calamity. Can you imagine a life with no fear?”

In Fearless, Max Lucado challenges us to imagine that day without fear of any kind.

What are we afraid of? In our times, we have plenty to fear. Fearless help us to identify and face our fears. Lucado shares some of his own fears he faced, such as heart surgery. From the Villagers of Stiltsville to William’s Psalm – this book takes you, chapter-by-chapter through the most common of our fears.

A discussion guide in the back is a great way to personalize what you’ve read and is ideal for small group discussion. A companion paperback booklet, Imagine Your Life Without Fear, is also available. It’s Fearless in a nutshell version and a great giveaway gift idea.

I faced a few fears of my own. The first time I read the book, I let it minister to me – and it did. The second time through helped adjust my thinking in a number of areas. The Psalms say: “The LORD is my light, and my salvation, whom shall I fear?” When we see Jesus for who He really is – we get our eyes off our fears, and they melt away in the light of God’s glory.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone – but especially if you want to learn to face your fears. Read Fearless.

Start imagining that life without fear. I am and I’m beginning to feel better for it.

What fears have you faced lately? Post a comment and let me know!

Overcoming Fear - Part 3 - Perfect Love Casts Out

Caption: Maggie in a moment of FUN!

Once Maggie got over her fear of being held, after we'd had her maybe 6-8 months or so, she found she loved being held.

Then, we could pick her up and hold her anytime we wanted, or anytime she wanted.

She no longer had fear that something would be done to her - that's what I think her root fear was. She'd never known love and she'd never known that being held was a loving thing until finally, she got it!

Once she did - she loved being held. She & I used to sit on the couch all day on a day I wasn't working. You knew she was really getting into it when she splatted out on her side, with her head in my lap. She'd start out with her head on her front paws and fall asleep. Then, after awhile, she'd go splat - and I knew she was settling in for a long hold. I always hated to disturb her at that point.

She learned to be loved and she learned to be held. She learned she was perfectly loved. Because she was perfectly loved, she could be held - that being held was a part of being loved. And she wasn't afraid of being held anymore.

I John 4:18 says "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

We're like that. God wants to speak to our storms, and calm our fears. But we're too busy being afraid...speaking out our fears and wringing our hands.

Just like Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, we wonder what will become of us.

Henry Higgins had just won his bet. He had transformed this cockney, uneducated, unrefined flower seller - into a beautiful, refined, and highly attractive woman. If you remember the scene, Higgins and his friend, Colonel Pickering were celebrating in song and dance! But what was Eliza doing?

She stands in the corner like a wallflower. She asks Professor Higgins what belongs to her and what doesn't. Then, she wails in fear:

"Oh what will become of me!"

She wondered that because she had no guarantee that Professor Higgins loved her enough to want her to stay on in any capacity. We know that in the end, they acknowledge they have fallen in love with each other, and end up together. "Where the devil are my slippers?" Higgins asks.

Have you ever felt that way? It's because we don't understand God's perfect love for us at times. Fear replaces faith that He will work everything out.

Next week: our book review of Fearless, by Max Lucado.

Let me know what you think! Blessings until next time!