This week’s devotions are adapted from the “Take Hold Of The Faith You Long For” devotional series on YouVersion by Sharon Jaynes
Psalms 56:3 TPT But in the day that I’m afraid, I lay all my fears before you and trust in you with all my heart.
Anxiety, worry, and fear wrap you up in yourself, trapping your own thoughts in a suffocating stranglehold. But God will never call you to do anything He will not empower and equip you to do. You will not become more courageous and learn to live boldly by avoiding your fears. Courage based on the faithfulness and love of God grows stronger with every step of faith, no matter how small. So write the letter. Start the conversation. Sign up to volunteer. Create the blog. Make the donation. Mend the relationship. Each step of obedience creates momentum that helps you break through the stronghold of fear.
The person who lives life to the fullest is the one who is willing to do and to dare. Allow God to infuse you with an enthusiasm and gusto that gives fear the boot right out the door, with you following close behind.
As you consider what might happen if you step out in faith, you must also consider what will happen if you play it safe and don’t. When we live boldly, we will experience God’s blessings. When we don’t, we won’t.
The fact is, we all experience fear at one time or another. We fear things we can’t control, and fear things we can. “Fear not” is a continuous thread weaving a tapestry of truth throughout the Scriptures. Why is that? God knew we would struggle with it!
If we want to live boldly—for God to use us completely, we must put the fear of failure, embarrassment, humiliation, or intimidation aside and take a step of faith.
If we are waiting to feel unafraid before moving forward, we most likely never will. Being brave and living boldly does not mean we will not be afraid. It means we move forward in faith even though we still are. It means we kick fear out the door with courage and walk past it, out into this big, wonderful world.
What are you most afraid of as you consider God’s call to you? What Bible verse might speak truth into that fear?
