Break Out of Fear
One of the chores I had when I was younger was taking the garbage out. This usually took place at night after dinner. Even though we lived in a safe neighborhood and the garbage cans were located on the side of our house I always had the same thought each night walking the garbage bags to the garbage cans in the dark…”There might be someone over there.”
Even though I knew this wasn’t likely, I would always stir up that emotion of fear. I remember the feeling of the hair on the back of my neck standing up as I would peek around the corner of the house, wondering if I was actually alone. Every time I would freak myself out.
Most of us would like to think that fear is something that we only deal with as kids.
The boogie monster.
The noise down the hall.
The shadow that moves across our wall when we are trying to fall asleep.
I’ve come to learn that fear isn’t just a kid thing. It’s a human thing. People at all ages, in all stages of life deal with and wrestle through all different kinds of fear. What about you?
In Luke 4:17-21 we see that Jesus came to set captives free. He came to help us Break Out of areas that would try to hold us captive. This includes fear.
The challenge for many of us is that we do things that help to fuel our fear. The things we choose to think, say and even believe help to feed and fuel fear, instead of casting it aside.
Here is something to consider…
Whatever I feed will grow.
Whatever I starve will die.
Everyday we can make the choice to either feed our faith or our fears.
Here are two questions to consider:
What is getting my focus?
Whatever gets the greatest attention in our lives often ends up being the thing that we feed. I can focus on my problems, or I can focus on God’s faithfulness. I can focus on all the areas that I don’t measure up in, or I can focus on the fact that the cross says I am now qualified and loved. What is getting your focus?
What does God’s Word say about it?
Sometimes feelings will lie to you. That is why it is vital that we learn to see what God’s Word declares about it. His Word will build faith, not fear. His Word will direct us to truth. What does God’s Word say about whatever it is that you are facing?
Each of us has the ability to make the daily decision to either feed our faith or our fears. Jesus came to set captives free. Fear binds and faith brings freedom. Break Out of Fear.
Here are some verses to reflect on if you are battling fear:
2 Timothy 1:7
Isaiah 41:10
Mark 5:21-24, 35-36
Hebrews 10:35-11:1
James 1:6
Psalm 94:19
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What vs. How: The Power of Perspective
Last week we ran into some car trouble. It happens. We had made a quick trip to Seattle and we were getting ready to head back over the pass when the transmission on our car started to act funny. After taking it in, we learned that it needed some serious work.
Frustrating.
In the moment it would have been easy to be upset about what it would cost, how it “messed up” our schedule, how we were not prepared to spend an extra night away from home…
It would have been really easy to see things through that perspective. But something helped to influence my perspective…my wife.
As we were processing what we were going to do she reminded me that at least it didn’t happen on top of Snoqualmie Pass, or happen where it could have caused our family danger.
That is perspective.
I’ve learned in life, it is not always WHAT we see, but HOW we choose to see it.
Our perspective has a lot of influence on us. It helps to influences the choices and decisions that we make as individuals. So my question is WHAT is influencing your perspective? What is shaping not just WHAT you see, but HOW you see things in life?
If our perspective influences the choices that we make, and the choices that we make determines where we end up in life, then it really is important for us to consider what is shaping HOW we view things.
We can make the choice to allow our perspective to be shaped by things like hurt, pain, bitterness, rejection, doubt, fear or anxiety. All of those things will influence WHAT we see because they shape HOW we see life’s circumstances.
We can also make the choice to consider what God’s Word declares about us and our situations and allow that to influence not only WHAT we see, but also HOW we see it.
Isaiah 55:9 (NLT)
“For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
What needs to GO?
A few years back Amber and I were at her parents during Christmas time. One night we were watching TV and a show came on that completely disturbed me and completely drew me in at the same time. It was the show “Hoarders”. As luck would have it, it was a marathon that night. Lucky me!
I watched in wonder and in pain as peoples lives were documented with their inability to let things go. Decades of collecting. Years of stacking, packing and trashing their homes and lives. It was hard to watch people who were held so tightly by the things they had collected in life.
They were trapped by things that need to GO.
Having time and margin in our lives to think is vital. When we neglect it, we can quickly settle in to our routines and rhythms in life without even realizing that things may need to change and adjust.
Each one of us have potential to GROW in life. But most often what keeps us from the ability to GROW is that we are unwilling to let other things GO.
We all have things that we like…things that we hold onto.
They bring comfort.
They bring a sense of safety.
If we are not careful though, the very things that we hold so tightly to may be the very things that are keeping us from the growth that we desire in our lives. We may have a passion and desire to develop the areas that still need to grow, but we must be willing to weed out the areas that need to go.
Want to grow in confidence? Fear of people has to go.
Want to grow in your relationship? Apathy and complacency has to go.
Want to grow in wisdom? Pride and being unteachable has to go.
Get a picture of what needs to GROW in your life and be willing to let the things that will hold that back GO.
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Top it off
I drive a 1987 Jeep Cherokee. I kind of like it.
Even though the tint on the windows is beginning to turn purple and the gas mileage isn’t great, it’s all mine! It has been a faithful car.
A while back it wasn’t running well. It began to overheat…often. I tried adding a little water to the cooling system and it would work great for a few days. Then, before too long, it would begin to overheat again.
The issue was that there had been a slow leak in the cooling system. Slowly, over time it had lost coolant and the result was my beloved Jeep wouldn’t function like it was intended to. It would shut down without notice. It would rattle and shake. It wasn’t being everything I thought it should be.
The problem was simple: there was a leak.
You and I have a similar issue in life. We are always leaking. Stressful day – we leak. Frustrated about a circumstance – we leak. Things don’t go as we envisioned – we leak. Live life for any amount of time, and you will leak.
If we allow life to go on like that too long we hit issues. Life doesn’t function like we want it to. Our faith doesn’t seem to fire on all cylinders. Something is wrong…something is missing.
The solution is really simple. Top it off…fill up!
I heard someone say once, “I know you are filled with the Spirit, but you are leaking out everyday.”
What they meant was this: We need to go back to the Word, prayer and time with God often, because we need to be filled.
Life has a way of draining things out of us. We leak. But God has given us the solution to live a life that is consistently filled up!
Take some time today to top it off and fill up your life.
Maybe you feel dry, discouraged or defeated. It’s time to fill up!
Things feel great and better than ever? Life leaks…fill it up!
Learning From Our Front Window
We recently moved into a rental house after moving to a new city. We found a home that we absolutely loved. Perfect location. Perfect size. Perfect layout for our family of five.
As we were doing the walk through with the landlord, I noticed the condition of the front window. The seal had been broken and their was moisture between the glass which made it nearly impossible to see clearly through the window.
Frustrating.
When I asked if that was something that he would be fixing before we moved in his response caught me off guard. “Nope. It’s too expensive.” I thought to myself, “If that is what people are going to first see when they drive up to my house, I would be fixing it.” But the challenge was there was no money in the budget to fix the window.
Many of us, when we hit a road block like that, give up. We stop. The answer has been given and their is nothing more we can do about it.
But then I had an idea. Since the house was built in 2005, the windows might still be under warranty. So I called the company. I asked the question. Turns out that not only was the window under warranty, but the labor to replace the window was to.
So as I sit and write this, I am looking out a perfectly clear, new window. All that needed to be done was to ask.
I wonder how many things we miss just because we don’t ask.
I wonder how many solutions God has, but we never find them because we have not taken the time to seek.
I wonder if doors could have opened up…if we simply would have knocked.
Here is the lesson I learned from my front window: ASK.
If there is a need in your life, take it to God and ask. You need wisdom? Seek it from Him. You need some doors to open up? Start knocking on the door in prayer and watch what God can do!
“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Matthew 7:7-8 (NLT)
Tyler Sollie
