This is Maggie. When I got her, she was one fearful dog. She trembled every time I picked her up.
She hid behind my legs whenever young children came around. She didn't want to have anything to do with them.
It took a couple of years before she would enjoy being held or not hide behind me when she saw a child coming.
It seems that for the last several years, God has been dealing with me and my fears. This started towards the end of February 2007. At that time, He was bringing me emotional healing and showing me a new direction than the one I had been going.
The first thing He asked me to do: contact a classmate from college via ORU's Face Place, an ORU-alumni Facebook type social site. I knew this classmate wouldn't remember after all these years unless I uploaded a photo - so I did. I wasn't sure I'd hear back from him, but I did. He was nice.
The thing was - old fears of rejection were trying to come back to haunt me. What if, even after seeing my picture, he wouldn't remember me? What if he was sarcastic and didn't show any sincere feelings of good towards me?
I believe the older we get, and the more we go through - if we don't depend on the Lord, we get more fearful. I never used to think of myself as a fearful person. I may have even said that out loud - but as soon as I did - God started showing me all the different fears I had.
There's a lot we can be afraid of in this life if we let ourselves. The point is - not to let ourselves. Fear robs us of faith.
In September, a new book by Max Lucado is being released, called Fearless. To commemorate that, and to establish our book review of this book for Thomas Nelson, I'll be discussing fear, but not the book. I'll reference the book, but not review it until the week of September 8th.
In the meantime, there's plenty of fear to talk about. We can overcome it. What frightens you the most? Post a comment and let me know.
