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!

Overcoming Fear - Part 2 - F-E-A-R

Caption: Maggie in a non-fearful moment

F - E - A - R. It's been called "False Evidence Appearing Real." But what if the "fear" isn't "false evidence."

What if something you're dreading actually happens. When things we are "afraid" will happen actually do...we get a bad health report, we lose our job, our credit report takes a tumble, a loved one dies, whatever it is - when it happens, what can we do?

Since we can't control the event - we do something else. We control our response! And you know what? That's actually the best thing we can do. What should our response be?

1) Pray - and this is the BEST thing we can do. Prayer centers us. Prayer gets our minds off ourselves and onto God. Prayer puts our spirits in charge. Prayer brings peace.

2) Read the Word - often God will bring us peace and comfort through the reading of His holy Word. He'll tell us right where to go to get our answer. It always amazes me when I'm puzzling about something, God will quietly tell me just where to go to find peace.

3) Worship - this is also important. If we can praise the Lord for any and all circumstances in our lives, we build Him up in our hearts. Whether we sing or play an instrument or we listen to a worship CD - this is important to do on a daily basis, but especially when fear hits us.

4) Breathe in the Life of the Spirit of God - Fear comes to our minds, our emotions. If we breathe in the life of the Holy Spirit - our spirits rise up and take control of our emotions. Our spirits, because the Holy Spirit lives in us, can overcome anything. It is through our spirits, that peace comes to our minds.

5) Take thoughts captive - sometimes, I have literally said this over and over to myself out loud. When a mental attack comes after taking spiritual ground, we need to remember that we don't wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers. This also helps to calm us and helps our spirits take control of our bodies and emotions.

What fears have you had to face lately? Is it fear of the future, fear of non-provision, fear of a relationship going sour, or fear that you've missed it? Post a comment and let me know. We're discussing fear for another couple of weeks. The week of September 8th, I'm posting a book review of Max Lucado's newest book, Fearless.

Overcoming Fear - Part 1 - Revised

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.

Overcoming Fear

Picture: Maggie on her "perch" at the top of the stairs of our old house

When we first got Maggie, (who has sinced passed away in 2003), she was a very frightened dog.

A breed dog who'd had little human contact, she wasn't sure how to respond to love and affection.

She trembled for several hours after I first picked her up that late October day in 1994. There were a lot of "firsts" in her life and she was frightened. This was a new person who just took her away from all she'd known.

When she finally figured out she was "my" dog later that day, she stopped trembling. She helped me overcome fear of being a bad "mommy." She overcame fear of being held and being loved.

Today, God has me overcoming fear of getting my name "out there." I just sent what is called a "query letter" to a magazine about Temper, Temper. I had to overcome fear of rejection in order to do that.

What fears are you being asked to overcome? Post a comment and let me know.