Fear is something that we all struggle with at some level, whether we want to admit it or not. Fear looks different for each person. For example, I do the announcements at my church on a regular basis, which involves getting up in front of a group of people and speaking. Doing this does not scare me at all, which I am sure some people find hard to believe because public speaking is a very common fear. The actual act of speaking in front of people does not scare me, but if we go a little bit deeper, what does scare me is not remembering what I am supposed to say about each slide or getting all the information out or stumbling over my words as I talk. This is why I practice exactly what I want to say multiple times before I get up on stage, and being a little more prepared makes me feel more confident when I go up to speak. I know that even just the thought of getting up there would cause some people the shake in their boots, but for me it is no big deal at all. However, something that I find scarier is talking to people either one on one or in small groups, because that requires more of me than just some well prepared speech that I say one time and then it’s over. For some reason it is easier for me to talk to a large group of people than a small group.
Getting outside of your comfort zone can cause fears to increase or come to the surface. However, there is one very big reason why we need not fear. Jesus came down from heaven as a baby, lived a perfect life, and sacrificed himself for every sin every committed in human history. You don’t think that Jesus had to get outside of his comfort zone sometimes to accomplish this amazing feat? Jesus was as human as you or I when he was living on this earth, and I know he understands what it feels like to have fear. Look at Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, for example. Jesus was fervently praying out of anxiety that he did not have to do the task before him (suffering and ultimately dying on the cross), but let’s remember his response to his fears – “…not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). Jesus left all of his fears about the cross in the hands of his heavenly Father. No, the fear was not taken away and Jesus still had to suffer and die. However, let’s not forget the amazing thing that was accomplished through this act. Jesus set aside his fears in order to save all of us. He left heaven behind to be born in this broken world to redeem it. With Jesus as our example, he calls us to set aside out fears to do what he has called us to do, and promises to walk but our side and give us the strength we need. “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7).
The journey to the cross started with a little tiny baby in a manger. Jesus put aside the comforts of heaven to be born to die. To be born to save. With Jesus, we have no reason to fear anything, because Jesus took every fear we could ever have to the cross with him and destroyed its power forever. We have nothing to fear with Jesus by our side. If we trust that he came to die on the cross to take away our sins, why don’t we trust that he will take care of everything else in our lives? It might not always look the way we think it should, but that does not mean that Jesus is not in control of everything and working everything out according to his plan in his time.
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done” (Philippians 4:6).
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