Monday, October 10, 2016

What are you afraid of?

1 Samuel 12:12 NLT (Samuel speaking) "But when you were afraid of Nahash, the king of Ammon, you came to me and said that you wanted a king to reign over you, even though the LORD your God was already your king."

The Israelites acted out of fear in asking for a king. They wanted to be like everyone else and have a king who would fight for them. Samuel warned them about the ramifications of having a king, but they didn't care. Fear was their driving force.

Which got me thinking about the decisions I've made recently and if I've made any of them out of fear. It also made me think about my future and the thoughts I've had concerning where I'm going. If I'm being honest with myself, I've let fear creep in.

I don't like to acknowledge that, to acknowledge that there's fear in my life about my present and my future. It's unsettling. But seeing the thoughts as fearful allows me to see them as the lies they are.


Acknowledging fear feels a bit like a backwards step, but my identity in Him rises up and enables me to battle as the conqueror that I am. I'm thankful that what feels backwards is really just giving Him the opportunity to shine as His strength is made perfect in my weakness. A life lived in fear is not a life that I'm interested in because I believe the truth of 1 John 4:18, that perfect love casts out fear.

Even in putting this out to the masses tonight, my initial thought was of fear, so I'm stepping out in faith instead. So, what are you afraid of? Is that fear truth, or is it a lie? If you're like me and thinking about who He's made you to be and what He's called you to do, I encourage you to join me in finding the fears that may have crept in and speaking His truth instead.

You are loved. You are worth it.