Today I Choose to Not Fear...

Today I choose to not fear. To not allow the worries of life to overtake me and to put my trust in God alone.
I am a worry wart and often my mind wanders to the worst case scenario. My mind can take me to dark places of fear if I am not focused on God. And if I could sum up my life in one sentence it's that God is faithful even though I am fearful. Fear can be paralyzing, it can prevent us from doing something that God has called us to do and can distract us from being effective.
God tells us to not fear, because he is with us. In Genesis 15 we read about God promising a son to Abram. In 15:1 it says, "After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: 'Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.'" God always has our best interest in mind, he has a perfect plan and even when life seems uncertain, we will never leave us!
In Mark chapters four and six we see Jesus do two amazing things. In chapter four he calms the storm and in chapter six he walks on water. In Mark 4:39 we see Jesus get up and rebuke the waves, telling them be quiet and still. Then verse 40 says, "He said to his disciples, 'Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?'" Later in Mark chapter six Jesus walks on water and the disciples are afraid because they think Jesus is a ghost. "Immediately he spoke to them and said, 'Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid.'" (Mark 6:50) We can be at peace and not fear during the storms of life if we are looking to God for strength. Even if our waves don't calm down when we want them to, we can still find peace and comfort in God's strength.
Paul's words to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:6-7 reminds us of where we find our strength. "For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." When we use the gifts that God has given us, he will give us the courage, strength and power we need. We have to not allow fear to prevent us from being effective for God and we need to look to God for strength so that we can do his work.
It think when God asks us to do something that feels really big, the hardest part is just getting started. We can allow our fears to overtake us, to stop us in our tracks and to paralyze us. I have to be honest, I have been allowing my fears to stop me in my tracks. I feel like God has given me an idea and a vision for this word study journey that I been on and my fear has made me believe that it would never be possible. I have convinced myself that I should just keep praying about my idea and if it is really what God wants, he'll just make it happen. But today I realized that I have to move! God has given me a vision for this word study to turn into a devotional and up until now I have been afraid to even say that out loud. I think I have been fearful of what others might think and probably mostly fearful of even getting started. It feels big, it feels overwhelming and to me it feels funny to even say that I want to write a devotional book. I felt like God was telling me today, just move and if this is not my plan I will close all of the doors. And I have to find peace in that truth! I have to stop letting my fear keep me from moving! I need to rest in the fact that "The Lord is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear?" (Psalm 27:1)
So, today I choose to not fear and to move forward because if God calls I must listen.