FEAR

What are you afraid of? I’m not talking about spiders, snakes, horror movies, clowns, or even going outside without your make-up on (ladies you know who you are). I am talking about what are you afraid of, what is giving you fear that you are limiting yourself from greatness. There are times in our life that we hold back to be safe, not made fun of, comfortable, or plainly to be mediocre. If we don’t draw too much attention to ourselves then maybe we can slide by in life and not have to deal with failure because we are not searching for success. Dale Carnegie stated, “Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.” In essence if we aren’t vulnerable to fail and understand that it is through those failures that we can find success we will never see our true potential. This quote I feel should truly strike the nerve in you to reach for more, “Don’t aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally.” Put your all into what you love and success will follow. How many are you are in jobs you don’t like, have bosses you hate, and co-workers that annoy you? Have you ever stopped to think about how the heck did I wind up here? Maybe you have a passion and love for something but you put it to the side because you couldn’t risk it, why? Sometimes we have to take a step of faith to understand that god has blessed us with talents and those talents are to be used, and more importantly used to glorify him. The bible says “whatever you do in word or deed do it all in the name of the lord.” Can you glorify God where you are at? Sure, and I hope that you do, however, wouldn’t you like to take a step out that and not handcuff yourself to mediocrity. If you are fearful to take that step remember this verse, “be strong and courageous and do not be afraid the lord goes with you each and every day he will never forsake you.” I don’t want you all to get what I am saying to you twisted, I am not saying you can’t be happy where you are at or that you are a failure because you are not a professional baseball player, but instead a garbage man, that’s not it. I am saying why not reach for the stars, success is measured differently by different people. For me I love time with my family, and I love helping people and sharing Christ with others. I prayed that God would lead me and at first I was shocked at how he closed doors I wanted and opened doors I needed to achieve those goals. I put trust and faith that he would guide and provide for me and my family. If success was based on money for me, I would be a failure, but since it is not I haven’t worried about money or had concerns of money since I put my trust in Christ. What are you looking for? How are you looking, and what do you need to get there? There is this great song by Switchfoot, a line from the song goes something like this, “This is your life, are you who you want to be, this is your life are you everything you dreamed that you could be when the world was younger and you had everything to lose.” In psalms 32:8 the lord says, “I the lord will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” If we put our trust and faith in the lord He will guide us to greatness (greatness that only comes from the Lord). Proverbs 3:6 states, “In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and he will direct and make straight and plain your paths.” Recognize the Lord is there waiting for you to turn to him for help and he will make plain your path. This reminds me of the story of how I met my wife. When I was working at an afterschool care in Folsom, I was asked to go help at one of our sister schools down the street, that was solely pre-K and under in age. I dreaded it, but, nonetheless I went and did my best. I was sent to the 2-year-old class, all of you who have children understand the age of 2 is extremely difficult, now imagine 20 of them. Yet as I worked, I noticed through the diaper smell and the many noses that needed to be wiped, i got a glance at an amazing woman that was beautiful and more importantly she handled the chaotic realm of 2 year-olds with such grace and ease. I knew I needed to know more about this person, so like the mature adult I was at age 22, I ask a friend to get me the 411 on her. I went out of my way to try to keep our relationship going leaving her notes and trying to let her know I was interested. My wife told me at first she didn’t really get me because I was shy and didn’t talk to her much (those who know me that is as far from my personality as possible) but I kept going. The school stopped needing my help and I went back to my afterschool care, I was both relieved and bummed, I know I really liked this person but didn’t know how to go about it, so I prayed. I prayed God if you want this person to be in my life not just for a while but forever make it obvious to me, help me to see without a doubt that this is who I am supposed to be with for the rest of my life.” I prayed this prayer after not seeing or talking to my (now) wife for 2 weeks, and out of the blue she calls me at my work to ask me if I wanted to go to lunch with her, I had to decline because of scheduling but promptly scheduled dinner. It was God answering a prayer, what I was not able to do on my own God made so clear for me, and I am very grateful for his guidance. So if you are struggling to put yourself out there to know that the answer from God to me could have easily have been NO but it is ok, God is there HE wants your concerns and he wants to guide you to a successful life in Him. Success where all the treasure are stored in heaven waiting for us, a success where you go home happy because you know your life has meaning and purpose. Success where you can say at the end of the day I am blessed because Jesus is in control and I am just enjoying the ride. God is great, there will still be struggles and suffering along the way but that is our way of showing our trust and dedication to God that we know and believe that he will put us “on the path that is direct, plain, and straight (Prov 3:6)”