Matthew 19:26
“…with God all things are possible.”

Have you ever let fear hold you back? Perhaps it was the fear of failure, embarrassment, or the unknown. The truth is, many of us struggle with fear and it often keeps us from living the full life God wants us to experience.

While at my 7 year old son’s basketball game last week I made a simple but interesting observation. Ready? Here is it. The kids who made the most baskets were often the same kiddos who also missed the highest number of shots. Doesn’t seem overly profound? Here’s the point. In order to be successful, these kids had to overcome fear of failure, embarrassment, and past mistakes and keep trying. They couldn’t let discouragement over missing a shot keep them from trying again.

The same is true for each of us. We cannot let the fear of “what if,” past mistakes, or anything else keep us from pushing forward towards a goal or dream, or taking advantage of opportunities that God places before us.

Fear can present itself in many different forms. I am certain it is one of Satan’s greatest tricks to keep us from living our best, most fulfilling life.

We fear failure, we fear what others will think of us, we fear that we don’t have what it takes. The list could go on. If we really think about it, most of our insecurities and hang-ups for why we don’t pursue our dreams or take hold of opportunities around us could all fall into the category of fear.

So what do we do when fear grips us so tight that we decide it is better to live a mediocre existence than to take a risk and follow God’s best for us? We start by remembering this simple truth: We need to stop believing in ourselves and start believing in God.

We stop focusing on success or failure, on other’s opinions of us, or on our own abilities or lack thereof; we focus only on God and what He asks of us. If God calls us to do something, He will equip us to see it through. We need only focus on following Him and allowing Him to work through us. We need to rely on Him and His power and abilities, not our own.

Let these verses encourage you today:

1 John 4:4 “…for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

Matthew 19:26 “…with God all things are possible.”

Philippians 4:13 “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”

Psalm 27:1 “The LORD is my light and my salvation– whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life– of whom shall I be afraid?”

When fear knocks at our door, we need to remember Whose we are and in Whose strength we live. On our own there may be reasons to be afraid, but when we believe in the One who is in us, we have nothing to fear!

Together, no more being paralyzed by fear. Let’s start living through the power of God and start playing offense with our lives. Let’s look for ways to practice courage rather than hide in fear. Don’t sit on the side-lines any longer, get in the game and take a shot. What’s the worst that could happen? If things don’t go as you planned, just shoot again!

How do you need to cast aside fear and follow God today? Don’t wait any longer! Choose to throw off fear and follow God! What is the first step you can take this week?