Letting Go of Fear

Fear. There is so much power, if we let it, in that four letter word. A healthy dose of fear can keep us safe and give us boundaries, but so many times we let it become paralyzing to our lives. It can imprison us and chain us to the point we can’t move forward. It can keep us up at night, and it can cause us to lose our focus. Fear can take root and cause us to be physically and mentally sick. It can make us miss out on so much in life.

I have went round after round with fear and to be honest, fear came out as the victor many times. But I am tired of being defeated by a four letter word. Fear is a liar.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love and sound judgement. 2 Timothy 1:7

Ever since 2020, God has been nudging my heart to overcome fear in my life. I have missed out on so many opportunities because of it. Not just adventures, or meeting new people, but doing God’s work. We tend to think of God’s work as being limited inside the church doors, but there are endless opportunities for him to shine in our lives outside those walls. Maybe it’s the fear of failing, or the fear of what others will think that causes us to hold back, or even keep us stuck in our Christian walk. I am learning that we have a God who loves us and wants so much more from us and for us. We cannot move forward in his plan for our lives if we are stuck in fear. It can cripple us in all aspects of our lives if we let it. Sometimes we don’t even realize the strong grip it has on our life.

I also believe that God plants in each of us certain dreams and passions. Not only does he put those dreams in our hearts, but he wants to see us fulfill them. I believe they fuel us and have a purpose. It may be hard to comprehend, but he can use all things to his glory. He knows our heart’s desires, but sometimes we must take action and move to achieve those things. We cannot sit back and wonder “what if” all the time. That is not living, and life is truly a precious gift so I want to make the most of it! I have spent way too many years watching from the sidelines. Some things that I have experienced this year, which took letting go of fear, are starting this blog, parasailing, and doing my first tandem jump from an airplane. On each one, I spent hours debating on if I should do them. I made a list of all negative things that could happen. If your like me, my first intuition is to list the bad, not the good. And the thing I am learning is that 99.9% of all that bad never comes to life. We fear it, we focus on it, we spend so much energy of our mind playing out all these aspects and it more than likely never happens.

With each task I tackle, when I come out on the other side, it has helped me find a little more courage in my life. I am not sure why God has put these things on my heart, but each one has drawn me closer to him in some way. He is helping me see that I am braver and stronger than I had thought. Not because of anything I have done, but because he lives in me and he wants me to enjoy this life he has blessed me with. He is a good Father and his blessings are overflowing. I do not deserve his love, but yet he pours it out on me daily. I would encourage you to pray and ask God to give you the courage to truly live out the life he has planned for you. There are many wonderful opportunities he has placed before us, but we have to take that step forward in making our dreams and passions become realities. Maybe that dream on your heart is just a token of his goodness to give you joy and happiness. Or maybe that passion deep in your heart is something that God plans to use to open doors in your life. We will never know the full impact if we don’t step out in faith. I do not want to get to the end of my life with regrets and “what if” questions. What about you? Let’s choose faith over fear!

If God leads, I plan on sharing how I pursued a dream I have had for over 25 years on my next blog. It took jumping over a huge mountain of fear to get there, but was totally worth it!!!

Keep moving forward,

Hayley W