fear

[CatHerder]

Let's begin with some thoughts on what the Bible says about fear -

1 John 4:18

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. (ESV)

...and here it is with all the eths and haths intact:

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. (KJV)

I feel compelled to challenge myself and some of the readers here. There have been a few recent posts addressing fear of pursuing relationships. That's partly what I want to address, but moreso, fear in general. Has fear held you back from something? a job promotion? a relationship? a ministry?

What are you afraid of? rejection? lifestyle/routine changes? failure? ...success? (ouch!).

OK - now for the challenge:
Take one "baby step" toward conquering your fear. For some, this could mean that you go skydiving. For others, it could mean asking someone out for coffee. For others still, it could be applying for that promotion at work. It could even be "coming out" as a Christian to those at work. Let God lead.

[video=youtube;p3JPa2mvSQ4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3JPa2mvSQ4[/video]

In 90 days, we will revisit this thread - I'll dig it up from the back pages (yes, Sho - a planned zombie thread!) and we will share 1. What fear held us back, 2. the "baby step" we took, and 3. the result(s). Feel free to share any progress you have made within that amount of time, too. I chose three months because some may need time to process, pray, listen to the Spirit, act upon His will...

remember -

2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV)


[SUP]7 [/SUP]For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.



Who is in?

 

[Shouryu]

Sometimes you get a promotion whether you wanted it or not. So any fear or apprehensions you might have become essentially moot.

I've learned to just roll with the changes that are dealt to me, for the most part. I've always tried to work in the spirit of servitude and gratitude, and in the end, the Lord takes pretty good care of me.

"We need a department chair for Fine Arts. It really needs to be you. It's more work, and there's no extra pay. But your department needs a voice in the chair meetings, and someone needs to try and quelch the drama before it gets to my office."

"Uhhhh...okay."

That was four years ago.

This summer, I'm being promoted to head director. Didn't really want it, but just glad I have a job still. The Lord took care of me the first time. I'm sure He'll keep an eye on me this time.

 

[DuchessAimee]

There are things I'm afraid of that I'm not willing to outline in this thread for personal reasons. However, I will totally join the challenge and probably open up in 90 days.



At the very least I'll report as to whether or not I've been working on stuff.

 

[Jullianna]

Oh, Catherder, my friend, what a can of worms it will open for me if I accept your challenge. I have been standing on the edge for a few days now and this might just be the push that sends me over to what may be the best thing I have done in a very long time.

 

[maxwel]

I'm going to take that step toward conquering my fear!

I'm going to apply for NASA's Astronaut Program!

: )

 

[CatHerder]

OK - a baby step in conquering my fear -

a piano friend of mine who also gives music lessons had an "adult" recital tonight - by that, I don't mean "X-rated," , but a get-together for a bunch of her adult musician friends. A very eclectic concert: Beethoven, the blues standard "At Last," folk songs, Satie, etc.

I performed two piano pieces, both by Mendelssohn, one which had been kicking my butt, and the other, a very easy piece for me. Neither of those was a big deal, but I also performed a piece I had written - an accompanied horn duet. It's from a larger work I am currently composing. This movement is a fun, Caribbean inspired piece. My daughter played the piano and my friend played the other horn part. Though I know how to look calm to an audience, inside, I was terrified. Here I was, sharing something that came from me, not one of the dead German composers whose music I am used to performing....to a group of accomplished musicians.

Anyway - it went over well, and I was asked to perform this piece again at my friend's gig next month on the Delta King (an historical riverboat permanently docked in Old Town Sacramento.

I've felt for a long time that the Lord has been wanting me to go in this direction with my music, and I have been resisting this for years - - mostly out of fear and complacency.

Tonight was a good kick in the pants.

 

[rachelsedge]

That's awesome, CatHerder.

Someone once told me an acronym for fear: False Expectations Appearing Real. A lot of the time, our fear is not rightly placed. That saying doesn't work all the time, as there are some instances where fear is real expectations that are real, such as being afraid of a bear, because the expectation that it will rip you apart is very real. But when it comes to most of the "normal" fear that we have, it's because we build things up too much, or we assume what other people will think, or we expect to fail, etc.

 

[mar09]

Cat, am revisiting thread for u, k.