DO NOT FEAR
‘but what if the worst thing happens?’
I often ask myself this before I make a big decision, go on a trip or before my husband leaves for work. Or ‘What if everything goes wrong?’ I have asked myself this before every school/university/work/life decision. I’m a classic catastrophiser. Basically, I fear the worst even though there is nothing to say anything bad will happen at all. Do you ever feel this way?
I have let fear control my life so many times. I know that often my fears are completely irrational, but they just take over.
Fear is such a powerful force. It can be suffocating and debilitating. Yes, it can keep us safe if there is a real threat, but often fear doesn’t come from a tangible threat. Fear can hold us back from so many good things.
The fear of what people think or the fear of making the wrong decision have held me back from being all that God has planned for me. Do you ever find yourself putting off big decisions because of fear? I definitely do! When it comes to planning for the future I would rather press snooze and think about it tomorrow, next week, next month. The future is a scary and uncertain thing. Am I pursuing the right path, the right thing? Will I be good at it, will it make me happy? What if everything falls apart?
Fear is responsible for so much in our lives that is unhealthy. Fear of not being good enough, fear of disappointment, fear of failure.
But what if we decided to answer the question of – ‘What if it all goes wrong?’ – with ‘So what if it does.’ Because even when things go wrong in our lives, God has a perfect plan for us. Maybe if we don’t get the university place or the job we want, God is working away in the background with something even better for us. Something we would have never imagined or planned for ourselves, but something so much more suited to us.
Most of the time when we’re in fear because of uncertainty.
We’re living in a scary and uncertain time just now with COVID-19. We are actually facing a real-life pandemic whilst trying to navigate our own lives. We have all our usual problems plus a pandemic and the unknown that comes with it. The truth is that there is a very real virus, and we all need to be careful by following the government guidelines, but many of our fears come from the ‘what ifs.’
When we look to the ‘what ifs’ we forget about the certainty we have in God’s grace. My ‘what ifs’ have taken up so much of my time that I could have spent resting in God’s unchanging grace, peace and mercy.
God gives us a healthy fear to keep us safe. Our natural fight or flight instincts kick in when we’re in danger and that equips us to protect ourselves. Unhealthy fear takes our focus away from God. Instead of living in the power of the Holy Spirit, we live in anxiousness and worry. When we let fear take over, we are depriving ourselves of the joy and peace God has given to us.
Imagine a life free from fear. How would you live your life differently?
Let’s not live a life captivated by fear and worry. Let’s be women of God who live in a place of certainty in God’s power and goodness, resting in His grace and peace.
Written by Ashleigh Shula