Fear

Every few days I receive a devotional in my inbox that I signed up for at some point and time. Honestly I don't read it everytime I get it, sometimes I just breeze by it as I check emails. But today I took the time to stop and see what it said and part of it really caught my eye. I thought I would post a portion of it so I can remember it later when I once again get caught up in fear.

If we're afraid to try, we never will. If the enemy can keep us contained by fear, we won't be able to fulfill our potential or make a difference in the life of another. Satan knows what we are capable of with Christ. To prevent us from that realization, he poisons us with fear.

The truth is what we fear rarely comes to pass. This kind of fear that is fueled by Satan's lies can be described by this acrostic:

False
Evidence
Appearing
Real
http://proverbs31devotions.blogspot.com/

After reading this I realized again that fear is the reason I use to justify 'not doing' things that I know I am capable of. For example looking back on the mission trip my husband and I went on with our teens last summer was something I feared for several reasons.
Fear 1- flying over 3 hours on a plane (what a wimp I am)
Fear 2- sleeping with a bunch of girls in a cabin (without my husband- he was with the guys)
Fear 3- not having control of the schedule (it was planned by the Youth Pastor)
The trip was in Utah, and I had never been out west before. I can very much be a hermit in many ways so going on this trip really stretched me out of my comfort zone. I had prayed about going and I knew I felt God leading me to go, and that was scary. But I have to say once I trusted in that decision God gave me a peace and carried me through the whole trip.
My fear became joy and excitement, fun learning so many new experiences that I normally would have allowed fear to rob me of.
You never really think about the other side of the coin- the part where you jump over the fear hurtle and really experience the excitement and knowledge you learn.
A good reminder for me today. Am I fearing anything right now? Well, there's always something!