Going Afraid

When I was a little kid I was afraid of the dark. Most of us were weren’t we? Afraid of what might lurk behind the shadows, what might be under our beds or in our closets.
   I was a pretty afraid kid.

  Once I was in a hotel that had a fire, we all had to evacuate the hotel, then after that, I was always afraid of fires. 
    
My neighbor, an older girl, had told me about a robbery in our neighborhood. Believe it or not, I had never heard of a robber before. I was full of questions.
    
“Did they steal everything they owned?”
  
 My neighbor being not that much older or more mature than me said, “Yes.”
    
“Even their clothes?” I asked in shock.
    
My Dad made me memorize Joshua 1:9, and 2 Timothy 1:7. I wrote the verses out and taped them to my walls. I tried to remind myself that I have not been given a spirit of fear but a spirit of power, love, and a strong mind. (2 Tim 1:7)

   
Let’s face it, fears don’t only exist in us when we’re little kids. We have fears all of the time. When we’re young it’s about monsters under the bed, eating food we don’t like, and roller coasters. When we’re older it comes in more serious, and quite honestly, more crippling. Finances, food, being liked, bad things that could happen, the list goes on and on.
    
Some of us, myself included, have built our lives around fear. We live going only to the places we feel safe at, we only spend time with the people we feel comfortable with. We try to avoid fear at all costs. Even though it helps us to feel less afraid, we are being crippled by fear. We are letting fear control our lives. 
    
There is more danger in this than just letting ourselves be afraid, you see, in the Bible Jesus tells a story about a man who built his house on sand and a man who built his house on rock. I’m sure you know the story, the man who built his house on sand lost his home when winds and rains came. 
    
Can you imagine what it would be like to be that man? Your house is gone and you are stuck out in the storm, soaked and alone. 
    
A few years ago a huge tropical storm hit. My family went outside, the wind was blowing around us incessantly. I felt so unsafe. Tree branches were falling, trees were bending and bowing in the wind. 
  
 Later, when the storm had let up we found out that two of our neighbors had trees fall on their houses. 
    
Being out there in the storm, vulnerable and alone must be what it would feel like to be the man who built his house on the sand. 
    
Another time, when I was very young we had a mammoth snowstorm in October. The power was out for days and days, no one was ready for snow. Halloween was canceled. Even though it was one of the worst storms in my lifetime though, I felt safe. My house was warm with the fire from our wood stove, we had plenty of candles, flashlights, and blankets.
    
​Of course, it didn’t detract from the fact that there was a storm going on all around us, but I was safe. It’s similar to the man who built his house on the stone. There was a storm around him, but he was safe.

{photo credit  - Marek Okon on unsplash}

We talk a lot about building our lives on the rock, on Jesus. But let’s be honest, most of us can relate to feeling alone, afraid, and cold amid a storm. 
    
Have we built our houses on sand? Let me rephrase that - have we based our lives on fear?
    
I’m not saying that you haven’t built your life on Jesus, what I am saying is that many of us have focused on our fear and staying away from the things we fear more than we have focused on running to the arms of Jesus who is greater than fear. 
  
 1 John 4:18  says, “Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.”
    
We are afraid because we don’t want the potential pain and potential consequences that can come from the things we fear. Run to Jesus instead of cowering in fear. His love overcomes the fear, his love is like a raincoat to fear, the water just rolls off.    

​It’s hard to just let go of fear, but you might see that even though we are commanded not to fear, we aren’t reprimanded for our fear. 
  
 Fear is an emotion. Emotions are a part of us, but they are just our feelings. You might feel angry, but it is only sinful and harmful if you act on your anger. You may feel love for someone, but if you don’t act on your love it doesn't make any difference. 
    
Fear is the same way. Fear is an emotion, when we feel afraid we have a choice, are we going to act on our fear, or choose to live full lives despite our fear?
    
I was heading into my training for a new job. That morning I had been texting a new friend of mine. We had met through mutual friends a few weeks before. She asked me if I was nervous and I said that I was. Then she sent me some quotes about fear. One particularly stood out to me, “Sometimes fear does not subside and you must do it afraid.”  - Elisabeth Eliot. You must do it afraid. That's so counter-cultural, counter-human nature, isn’t it? But that’s what someone who centers their life around Jesus does. (Shoutout to my friend for sharing that with me!)

The storm still swirls around their house, maybe the shutters clatter, the trees around it bow and snap, but they are safe in Jesus. Of course, they aren’t immune to danger, but they know that they will make it through, even if they are left alone and cold in the storm, things won’t always be that way. 
    
Today, start rebuilding. Start building your life around Jesus, he came to cast out your fear. Don’t let your fear hold you back from your purpose, your potential, and your opportunities. In the midst of your fear boldly proclaim the name of Jesus. Run out into the storm to greet your protector and savior. 
    
We weren’t made to be afraid. We were made to have life in its fullness. We were made to make progress towards being fearless. We were made to live obedient to Jesus, not our fear. 

Belle Thomas

​Belle is the writer behind An Old Fashioned Girl. She is passionate about Jesus, good books, and living a beautiful life.