What are you scared of?

I used to teach a foster parent training curriculum in which we discussed the fears that foster parents have in regards to working with a child's birth family. As an "ice breaker", I had the partcipants go around the room and tell something that they were afraid of. That was always a fun activity, because someone would always say something very interesting. You would get the usual fears: snakes, spiders, bugs, frogs, etc. No surprise there. Then it would get a little more interesting...some would be afraid of clowns or balloons. Then there would be someone in the class with a totally random fear...like cotton balls or something. Sometimes, you would have some big burly man say something crazy like, "I'm scared of dolls, man. I hate the way they look at you with those eyes that blink".

Everyone has their weaknesses and breaking points when it comes to fears. We shouldn't really judge anyone about their fears, because the day is coming when we will have to face our own fears. I had a co-worker once who was a real prankster. He loved to scare everybody on the hall. Fake spiders in your filing cabinet, plastic snakes in your desk drawer, popping up behind doors, he did it all. He scared EVERYBODY, except me. He couldn't get me. I just laughed at him. I told him, "Your fake bugs and your plastic critters do not scare me. I have three kids and a mortgage and bills to pay. That's what's scary to me!"  I should have known better. I had just issued him a challenge. One day I was preparing for a training and was behind schedule. The participants would soon be arriving and I was still copying their training notebooks. I had several copiers going at one time. He ran down to my office."Is that you making all those copies in the copy room...because the copier is messed up and there are papiers flying everywhere, all over the floor...it's a mess. "NO!" I screamed and ran down the hall. Just one training notebook was a couple hundred pages. I could just picture all of those papers out of order. I would have to start over. I would never be ready on time. I was panicking.
He just laughed and said "I GOT YOU!". It was a lie, just one of his pranks. My notebooks were all neatly printed and organized. He got me...he found my weak spot.

Statistics say that most people are extremely afraid of public speaking. That doesn't bother me at all. Matter of fact, its one of my favorite things to do. When I am on stage or in a pulpit, I feel most at home...most like "me". But there are things that other people can do that freak me out. I hate to parallel park. What if I hit someone's car? Scares me.

Regardless of what your secret fear is...you still have to deal with it. Fear can paralyze you or make you act in ways that you would not normally act and do things you would not normally do. (Throw a fake snake on someone and you will see what I mean!)

 In 2 Timothy 1:7, the Bible states "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind". I taught one of my children that scripture a few years ago when they were having some fears related to school. He still remembers it. We went to Fear Farm recently for a scary hayride and he was really scared. I reminded him, "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" . Grabbing on to my arm, he said, "That doesn't work here!" 

I had to laugh. Of course, he was wrong. Scripture works everywhere,in all situations, and applied to all of our fears. Being afraid of snakes or anything dangerous is perfectly understandable. God gave us that instinct. But you may have fears that DID NOT come from God and came straight from the deceiver. Fear that you will be alone, fear that you will fail, fear that you are not good enough, smart enough, pretty enough, fear that no one will ever love you...
you fill in the blank. God does not want you to have those kinds of fears. The devil comes as a thief to kill, steal, and destroy...but God comes to give you an abundant life. A fear-free life.
Don't let your fears overtake you.

Focus on God and his word instead of your fears. Isaiah 26:3 says, "You (God)  will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." That means that when you have your mind focused on God instead of your fears...he will keep your mind at peace.

Confident faith in God is the opposite of fear. 1 John 4:18 says that perfect love casts out fear. Gods love for you is a perfect love. He loves you no matter what...even if you're scared to parallel park. Commit your fears to Him and trust in His perfect love to help you overcome your fears!