Bye, Bye Fear

Posted on 05.09.06 in Faith and there are 6 comments.

Yesterday, my children and I were sitting in our driveway enjoying some suckers. Being that my kids are so little, they tend to get as much of the sweet stuff on their clothes, hands and hair as they do in their mouth...ergo eating in the driveway. My 3 year old was sitting on her bike relishing this rare treat when suddenly she turned around and was face to face with a big, rather ugly dog that had apparently snuck up behind her. She screamed. My youngest does NOT like dogs and responded accordingly. When she saw the dog, she screamed and pretty much stood petrified in the corner. I jumped up, grabbed both of my little girls in my arms and ran and took them to their daddy's office. Once they were safely in Daddy's arms, I marched back out to the garage, broom in hand, ready to take on this mongrel who would dare mess with my babies. Fear was the last thing on my mind. Fear. We encounter fear a lot in our daily lives, don't we? It's not always fear of physical harm. More often, it's fear of what other people are thinking. Do they like my clothes? Do they think I'm smart? Do they think I'm cool? Do they understand me? Do they like me? It can be paralyzing. I wasn't afraid of the dog because I wasn't thinking about me. My children were the focus of my attention. What if God was the focus of our attention? How different do you think we'd live? What would we do if we weren't concerned with our glory and reputation, but His? What if we prayed everytime we left our house that we'd honor God in everything we say and do? What if we cared more about bringing fame to Him than being really funny or really cool? What if we cared more about what God thinks than what people think? I think we'd live a lot differently. I think we'd know real peace and freedom. When God is the center of our lives, fear has no place. He is the eye of the storm. There is struggle and fear outside Him. But in Him there is perfect peace. I'm not a poet or a songwriter, so I don't know what you'd call this. I guess it's just a collection of words that rhyme occassionally.

I Am The Center of The World

The winds they whip me around and the more I try, the more I lose ground I scratch at the dirt and reach for the trees anything, anything that seems stable to me my hopes, my dreams they all fly around in a dizzy array as if, as if I have no say but that’s just absurd because haven’t you heard I am the center the center of my world and everything I do everything I see is simply for the betterment of me but I find it’s so hard to stand and it’s all out of hand everything seems to be moving outside of my plan I reach for good things as I see them fly by but slowly, so slowly I’m wondering if I I am the center the center of my world if everything I do everything I see should really be for the betterment of me yes everything seems to be moving in a different direction it’s drawing me in drawing me in what will happen if I let go what will happen if I let go what will happen if I let go what will happen if I just.. You draw me in to this glorious peace so still, so quiet I hear my heart beat I’m afraid to speak, but there’s so much to say this amazing peace just takes my breath away Oh You You are the center the center of this life let the winds rage around but I’ll never know because you are the center the center of my storm so let everything I do and everything I say only ever be for the glory of your name

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Great poem, Kat.  Beautifully written.  I agree, that fear paralyzes us.  That’s been one of the biggest battle of my life...overcoming fear.  2 Tim 1:7: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” And I think you’re absolutely right, it’s fear of what others are thinking.  This is fear that will keep us from revealing our true selves.  Keeps us from taking risks, pursuing dreams, being vulnerable, letting go, trusting God.  So we make our own protective layer to cover up insecurities, instead of trusting God’s love for us.  That He loves what He has made.

Please God, not man.  Live unto God, not man.  God will delight in this.  Thanks for the encouragement today!

Woo, I like what you’ve got going on, girl.  Keep going.  And yes, it is a poem.

Another brilliant piece.

I’d have to concur, in thinking about my own life, that fear drives way too much of what I will and will not say or do. And yes, mostly fear of being rejected, or made fun of, or misunderstood. It’s just foolish pride.

But with the Lord’s help, I’m getting better.

Great thoughts, FancyPants. (I’m sorry, that just makes me giggle everytime I write it. Can I call you FP when I’m writing something serious? If so, I hereby dub thee, FP.)

Cach, so does that make me a poet? Cool.

Hammer, thanks for the encouragement and sharing your heart. I admit I was a bit nervous to write this entry. I’m glad I did though.

That’s the great thing about blogging. It’s like training wheels for being real with what you say. At least for me, I tend to be more real on my blog and a little more bold with what I share than I am in person in my day to day life. Maybe it’s because I don’t have to endure the empty stares of people who don’t understand me or the critical looks of those who think I’m wrong or wierd. I don’t know why, exactly, but sharing my thoughts here has certainly helped me to be less fearful and more real with the people that I interact with daily.

And being real is one of the most important things I strive for, because I think that it’s when we’re transparent that people see Jesus. When they see our “perfection” they can’t see His.

On a related note. How do you all think fear has affected the effectiveness of the Church? Do you think fear has affected the effectiveness of the Church? (i.e. Fear of what the other churches think. Fear of what the world thinks.)

What do you think? What would the Church be doing differently if fear were not a factor? What would your church look like?

Yes, you may call me FP when writing something serious, but ONLY when writing something serious.  All other giggle appropriate times, it’s FancyPants.  =-) Actually, some have taken to just calling me Fancy.  I humbly receive thy dubbing me FP and will graciously respond to such a dub.

Kat,

Thanks for directing me to your Favorite Posts!  I landed on this one first and I love your poem.

But I really love your paragraph above about blogging being like training wheels for being real about what you say.  Excellent stuff there.  I am surely bolder in blog.  And learning slowly that sometimes that’s good and sometimes it may be not so good. 

I think in my church (a big church), if people had no fear of what others thought of them or said about them or how they looked at them, we’d have less meetings and committees.  Don’t know why that comes to mind first but it does.  Also, I think we’d leave the safety of our cliques and venture out to get to know other members - get to know their stories. And we’d feel more free to share our own.  And THEN our church would look different because we’d no longer be as self-absorbed and we’d be doing so much more for people outside the church. 

That didn’t come out nearly as well as I planned.  But maybe you can make a tiny bit of sense of it. 

Will be visiting and reading often!
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