Do It Afraid
At the age
of 12, I started singing with our little church youth of 5 people. We would practice every Sunday night before
church and sing 1 or 2 songs every Sunday night service. My twin sister and I enjoyed singing very
much but we were quite shy and when at practice someone would suggest singing “I Love Him Too Much”, we would feel
sick, that awful feeling of dread, churning stomach, dry throat!! This was because we sang the first verse solo
or duet. We were fine joining in with
the group, but to sing a verse was overwhelming!! Needless to say, we were nervous till the song
was sung and done in the service! We
were scared but we never one time said, “No, can’t do it”. I never said, “I’m too scared to sing”. I’m so glad that I went ahead and sang that
song and eventually many more songs after that, because I’ve been in music
ministry for 20 years! What if I had
let fear get the best of me? What if I
had let fear have its way?
Has FEAR
ever been a problem for you? Has fear
ever held you back from moving into areas that could enrich your life and lives
of others? The good news is that we
have hope and freedom in Jesus Christ!
Let’s take a look at a few scriptures that will bring encouragement and
victory!!
2 Timothy
1:7 says: For God hath not given us the spirit of
fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Psalms
56:3 says: What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee.
Psalms
56:4 says: In God I will praise His Word, in God I have
put my trust: I will not fear what flesh
can do unto me.
Psalms
27:1 says: The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom
shall I fear, the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid.
In Genesis
12, God promised to bless Abram and make him great, but there was one
condition. Abram had to do what God
wanted him to do! This meant leaving his
home and friends and traveling to a new land where God promised to build a
great nation from Abram’s family. Abram
obeyed, walking away from his home for God’s promise of even greater things in
the future. It had to be a fearful
time, but he did it anyway. He did
it…..afraid.
Hebrews
11:7 says: By faith, Noah, being warned of God of
things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his
house.
Noah was
afraid, but obeyed God and built the ark!
Everyone thought he was crazy!!
He was mocked and ridiculed! Yet
he didn’t let fear hold him back from fulfilling God’s plan and purpose in his
life.
God may be
trying to lead you to a place of greater service for Him. Don’t let the comfort and security of your
present position make you miss God’s plan for you! We all have our own strengths and
weaknesses; our individual talents and personalities. Maybe you are an outgoing person who doesn’t
struggle with fear that much. That’s
awesome! Be an encourager to someone who
does struggle with it. Maybe you’re introverted and you think God
can’t and won’t use an introvert.
That’s not true!! He has a work
for all of us to do!!
I read about
a missionary named Elisabeth Elliott.
Her husband was killed along with four other missionaries in
Ecuador. After that, she said that her
life was completely controlled by fear.
Every time she started to step out to minister, fear stopped her. Then a friend told her something that set her
free.
She
said: “Why don’t you do it afraid?”
She took
that advice and with a friend, went on to evangelize the Indian tribes of Ecuador.
Sometimes we
think we should wait to do something when we’re no longer afraid, but if we did
that, we’d probably accomplish little for God, for others, or for ourselves.
We must not
run from fear but stand firm against it!
If we don’t, it can and will paralyze us and keep us stuck!!
Is God dealing with you to:
*witness to
your neighbor, friend, co-worker?
*teach a
home Bible study?
*get
involved in a ministry?
*break out
of your comfort zone in praise and worship?
*something
else?
The enemy
(satan) uses fear in different forms to keep us from experiencing everything
God has for us. We must pray and seek
God! Even though we may feel fear, we
need to focus our attention on God. He
will give us courage and faith to step out and DO IT….AFRAID!
Don’t let fear
rule your life! Recognize it so you can
deal with it. Fear will attack our
thoughts, but the Holy Spirit will give us power and authority over the enemy!!
Use the
power of God’s Word to do what He wants you to do, even if you’re afraid.
I John 4:18 says: There is no fear in love, but perfect love
casteth out fear, because fear hath torment.
He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
Each time
you feel fear and do it afraid, you will enjoy your new freedom so much that
you will soon be totally unwilling to do without it. Be determined to end your days of slavery
to fear! If and when you fall, get up
and keep going! To feel fear doesn’t
mean you are a coward; boldness is taking action in the presence of fear. It’s not about choosing to move when there
are no risks or when you are 100% confident that your decision will work out
perfectly. Uncertainty can often creep
back in, but if you continue to step out of your comfort zone by faith, it will
get easier! Fear will challenge you,
but the Holy Spirit can help you walk in faith and be victorious!
I hate
spiders!! My family hates
spiders!! If someone in my house sees a
spider, I will hear a scream or whine or moan!
“MOM!! “ Like I said, I hate
spiders too, but I’ve tried to teach my kids that if you see one, go ahead and
deal with it immediately! In other
words, KILL IT! If you don’t, you’ll
lose it, then you’ll have to worry about where it is all day/night! Even though you’re afraid, grab some tissue
or something and destroy it! I tell
them, “DO IT AFRAID”! Of course, there
are many other situations and examples we could all insert here. Jesus will never leave us! He’s got our backs! He wants us to grow spiritually! Don’t get stuck in your fear! He is a deliverer!!
Joshua 1:9 says: Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not
afraid, neither be thou dismayed; for the Lord thy God is with thee
whithersoever thou goest.
We can’t enjoy
all God has for us if we run from fear!
Let’s fill our lives with praise and worship unto God for Who He
is!! In Him, we have freedom, real
peace, true joy and He will fight our battles!
When God prepares the way, we can trust that whatever happens will turn
out for our good, according to His perfect plan for us. Trust Him and move forward!! Let Him have His way and will in your
life! Even if you’re afraid, you have
what it takes to do it!!
- Written By Sis. Marilyn Tibbs
