This past weekend in his message, Mike referenced a quote from a new book by Max Lucado entitled Fearless and I’ve been thinking about, praying through it, and applying it to areas where I tend to live by fear instead of faith. Here it is:

“When fear shapes our lives safety becomes our god. When safety becomes our god, we worship the risk-free life. Can the safety lover do anything great? Can the risk-averse accomplish noble deeds? For God? For others? No. The fear-filled life cannot love deeply. Love is risky. They cannot give to the poor. Benevolence has no guarantee of return. The fear-filled life cannot dream wildly. What if their dreams sputter and fall from the sky? The worship of safety emasculates greatness. No wonder Jesus wages such a war against fear.”

What fear has hobbled you this week? Fear of rejection? Fear of not fitting in? Not being liked? Fear of failure? Fear of letting go? Fear of being honest with yourself about a current relationship? Fear of admitting you are struggling? Whatever the fear is, identify it by writing it on a piece of paper and beside it write in bold letters the most frequently voiced command in the Bible, which is “DO NOT BE AFRAID.”

As I face my fears, I’ll be praying for you…