“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
America’s 32nd president spoke these famous words during his inauguration in 1933. He went on to explain that fear is a nameless, unjustified terror that paralyzes our efforts to move forward. Fear can seem big and bad, but it really is inadequate when it compares to the source of our faith.
Almost everything we want in life or anything worth fighting for is on the other side of fear. Once we recognize fear, we can deal with it and start to overcome it.
The day I clicked “publish” for the first time on this blog, I literally screamed my way through it! It was terrifying and equally exhilarating! Everything was ready to go and set to be published by 9:00 AM on June 1st. I called my mom and told her I was ready to go! She was just as excited as I was.
After I hung up the phone, I went to my site and decided to change a picture. About 3 hours later, I got up from the computer and had lunch (I still hadn’t clicked “publish”).
Long story short, I did not publish my blog until around 4:00 PM. You should have seen me literally take my left hand and grab my right arm and force it to click the publish button. It was a lot like a monster hand scene from a scary movie! I screamed so much so that my husband and daughters ran into the kitchen to make sure I was okay.
Fear is real, but it doesn’t own me! I remember a speaker once saying that fear was “False Evidence Appearing Real”. I never really understood that. Evidence is evidence. There may be good evidence and bad evidence, but a jury is presented with ALL the evidence.
It is up to each member of the jury to decide which evidence has more weight in their decision.
How much does fear weigh in your life?
Joshua 1:9 says:
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. (NIV)
This is my favorite verse that speaks of fear. I have memorized this text, but I always use the Traci’s Life Translation that goes more like this:
“Girl, now didn’t I tell you what to do?? Be strong and courageous. Don’t you be scared; don’t you dare stop now because God is with you everywhere you go. No excuses.” (TLT –Traci’s Life Translation)
Fear is something that we will always struggle with, but it does not have to overcome us. See it, recognize it, face it, but don’t let it stop you. Every time we decide to be courageous and move in love despite our fear, our faith grows. We learn to trust God more and He will move on our behalf and take us to places our hearts would not have dared to go before.
The tagline for this blog is not a cliché. I am unequivocally finding the COURAGE to write about God’s tiny pearls of wisdom. When I published my second post, I screamed again, but not so loudly and I didn’t have to force my hand so dramatically. Each post gets easier and easier to publish. My goal is to change lives and encourage others with my writings, but I have already found the first life to change has been my own.
–Traci D. Fuller, Pearls and Pretty Pens
Little POW-wow, Pearls of Wisdom
- If God has not given us a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7), why do we allow it to control so many areas of our life? What are some areas you allow fear to control your decisions?
- Each “juror” must decide how heavy fear will weigh in our decisions to do what God has called us to do. There are little fears and there are BIG fears. I do not have a fear of speaking in front of a large crowd, but I do have a fear of spiders. If I am asked to speak for a crowd of 3,000 and there is a large spider on the podium, we might have a little problem! Ask God to give you the courage to conquer ALL your fears. And carry a magazine to swat those spiders in your life!
Write out a story when you allowed fear to stop you from doing something God asked you to do.
- After writing it out, ask God to forgive you for your disobedience and then rip that story up, and from this point on, walk in FAITH and not in FEAR!
Tune My Heart…
Francesca Battistelli is a Christian singer and songwriter. She successfully started singing independently in 2004 with her first song release of Just a Breath. She later signed her first recording contract with Fervent Records in 2008.
The Break-Up Song was released in June of 2018 and it is one of my favorites in Contemporary Christian songs! It says exactly what I would like to say to encourage you today. Enjoy!
Pearls and Pretty Pens 