Anticipating that bad things are going to happen will cause anxiety and worry. This anxiety and worry robs us of our peace of mind, our strength, and the ability to do the work that we are called to do. Worrying about what might go wrong will cause you to work with less than your full strength and ability. It is not our work that is so hard, but our lack of faith and love of worry. Doing what we ought to, what we can, and what we are called to do, isn’t so difficult. It is the worrying and fear!
We burn all of our energy even before we get the chance to do the work. We have made our work so distasteful that we can’t enjoy it and therefore we burn out. We don’t think clearly. We poison ourselves, rob our sleep, and lose all joy and peace in doing the work we so hungered for. We don’t grow in the Lord, His work, or our ministry due to this anxiety. We don’t enjoy it and we don’t let others enjoy it either.
Our fear of failure, of embarrassment, of what others will think of us deadens our purpose, throws obstacles in the way, and keeps us from realizing all the great work God has for us to do. We “beat ourselves up” so much that even we no longer want to do the work; much less those in our ministry. We punish ourselves so much for our past failures that we can’t see what God has for us in the future. The only vision we have left is our rearview mirror. Everything is distorted. All we see are the shadows of what could have been.
The more we focus on our fears and failures the more they become reality. Our minds are very susceptible to suggestion. We keep telling ourselves how it was and the conditions until we believe them to be true.
Don’t we believe that God has a plan for us? Didn’t He call us? Won’t we admit that all our fear and anxiety does is rob us of peace, joy, and purpose? Isn’t our worry an undesired, unintended, expression of our lack of faith and trust in our God?
We have worried and complained about our condition so long that it becomes a self fulfilling prophesy. We feel justified in “when it does not work” because it proves that we are right. We have developed our own version of reality.
We get old before our time not because of the work but because of the worry, fear, and lack of faith. We have proven, now, that God nor His Word are true nor will it work.
Faces that should be serene and faith filled are worried, wrinkled, and drawn. It is only natural that we would worry and be fearful. We are taught this attitude from the time we are born.
We were born into a world of fear. Our parents were fearful. The newspapers and TV news “live” to play with our fears. As we grow up we learn to hide our fears but it is still there under this surface. It becomes “anxiety” underneath the exterior. It burns us like poison. It affects everything that we do and say. What a way to live! We are handicapped by our fears and lack of faith.
We were taught fear in school. We learned it from our friends. It is the natural emotion of life but then aren’t we called to another lifestyle and a whole new life. Shouldn’t we step out by faith knowing that God will do something with us? Isn’t that the message of the Bible?
Fear has so dominated us that we are no longer men. We have become the puppets of sin, anxiety, and the lack of faith. It begins to show even in our appearance. We are a shell compared to what we were meant to be. It makes us miserable.
Why don’t we just stop it? Why do we continue doing something that hurts us so much? We can quit. We can overcome. We can renew our minds. We can change the way we think. We can fill our minds with promises and not problems. We can pray for, look for, and expect the opportunity not the obstacle. We have a Bible full of truth. We are new creatures. We should have a whole new attitude.
Fear can’t live with faith. One will have to throw the other out. What do you choose? If you focus on the Lord Jesus and His promises your mind will not have time or energy for the fear and anxiety.
Think with me about what fear does to us.
It shortens our lives.
It harms our health.
It kills our efficiency.
It strangles our originality.
It blocks our boldness.
It breaks our spirit.
It makes us bitter.
It causes us to attract other fears and failures.
It takes away our wisdom.
It paralyses us.
Fear is a curse. Faith is a blessing. We are the children of God called to do His work. How can we continue to live in anxiety when we were told not to fear? Why would we want to live in this miserable condition of faithlessness.
What is it that God has called you to do? What has He empowered and equipped you to do? Do not let Satan cause you to fear. Resist him and he will flee. Victory is yours in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
I got the basic idea for this article from Pushing to the Front by Orison Marden
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