Do It Afraid

"Do it afraid" was one of my moms favorite sayings.  Because fear dominated her life for so many years, this phrase helped my mom conquer many of the phobias that plagued her life.  Although she never experienced the total deliverance God had for her, she set each of her children on a path of faith that has helped us defeat our fears.  I don't want you to think this was an easy process.  As a teenager, I had an irrational fear of the dark.  It haunted me for over 2 years.  I use the word irrational because the Bible tells us that God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and love and a sound mind.  This fear even followed me into adulthood.  In my early 20's I was a sales manager and yet I was afraid to make sales calls.  Again, this was an irrational fear.  Success with one customer failed to give me the confidence with others.  It seemed like fear was my constant companion.  For some reason fear seems to hitch a ride during the course of our lives.  There may be specific events that lead to this or we might possibly catch it from someone close to us.  Whatever the cause, Jesus Christ came to set us free from fear.  My mother's example gave me hope that progress can be made in this area of our lives.  My advantage was I started much earlier than my mom.  Two additional things helped me.  First, spending time praising God.  In praise, God becomes bigger and fears become smaller.  As we proclaim the power, glory and majesty of our God the spirit of fear disappears.  At first this is only temporary, but eventually it becomes more permanent.  Second, the Word of God convinced me that I did not have to live in fear.  I memorized the verse from Timothy that says God has not given us a spirit of fear and I have quoted it back to myself thousands of times.  That verse energized my faith and now acts like an immunization keeping fear away.  If you are interested in "Doing it afraid" we will be starting a new series on this subject in the fall at the Champion Center.