Spring '19 Finals Affirmations Day 5
“Sorry fear, Grace took your place “
When I received the invitation to write a post about fear, I laughed in an “of course it is!” kind of way. OF COURSE, it’s fear lol. When it comes to my life, fear is like a pesky gnat. In actuality it’s powerless, but it has the tendency to interrupt the flow of my life. Everyone has their thing. The thing that they’re constantly struggling with and mine is fear. Being that that’s the case, I do not have any special tips for making it disappear. (But if you do, please feel free to slide that information).
When I think about fear, one of the first verses that come to mind is 2 Timothy 1:7. “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind”. I’ve acknowledged this verse several times in my life, but have not always felt consoled by it. For someone that struggles with fear, when reading with the wrong perspective this verse can come off as dismissive. Like I just need to go and pray, because “this isn’t of God”. I’m already ready to say “I know” when someone whips it out. But when I sit down and realize how intentional God is, I understand that this verse is the opposite of dismissive. Paul, under the prompting of the Holy Spirit, made a conscious effort to mention fear, acknowledging the tendency it has to interrupt the flow of our lives. I’ve come to realize any issue that is explicitly called out in the bible is a serious one.
I sometimes feel shame when it comes to fear, because in light of all God has brought me through I should have no reason to fear. Yet still, it plagues me. But the explicit notation of fear in 2 Timothy gives me freedom to acknowledge it because God did. And because I experience it, it does not mean I do not trust God, or I’m not saved, or I’m not praying enough. 2 Corinthians 11:7-9 Paul says “A thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of satan….Concerning this thing, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness”. I can’t count how many times I’ve asked for fear to not be a thing anymore. For God to remove it from me. But seeing the way the Lord responds to Paul, I realize we are more concerned with it than God. Not because He doesn’t care, but He knows His grace is sufficient enough that we can still function in purpose with that “thorn” plaguing us. It is sufficient enough that we can be tempted to give up, or run or be paralyzed, but His grace will ultimately have the last word and allow us to overcome it.
So what should we pray when we’re afraid? The first step is to acknowledge that fear is relevant. Instead of praying “Please don’t let me be scared”. How about, “God I know I will be scared. But help me to do it anyway”. “Lord, help me not to just seek cancellation of fear, but to believe You for the grace to function in the midst of it”. “Help me to do it scared!”. If we condition ourselves to only move in the absence of fear, we have made fear the conductor that decides whether we move or stay still. If we make a conscious decision to allow grace to lead the way, fear has no choice but to take a back seat. In order to accomplish this, we have to push through fear and decide that scared or not, nothing will stand in the way of God’s will for our lives. It’s not easy, but we are capable because we’ve been graced to succeed.
Waqeelat Gaji is a 24 year old faith blogger and a Prince George’s County, MD native. She founded her blog, A Standard for Her in May 2018. The goal for ASFH is to encourage women in the process of learning Who they are, Of Whom they are, and Why they are here - using the one true standard which is the word of God. She has a passion for seeing people encouraged in the Lord and receiving ALL God has for them. Her happy place consists of eating and netflixing.