When I was little, I was afraid of a few things: The Wizard of Oz, holding sparklers on the Fourth of July, and Brutus—the Doberman Pinscher who lived behind us. In retrospect, I am not sure where some of the fear stemmed from. I understood my fear of Brutus, and it was a fear shared by all the neighborhood kids—the dog was a menace. The movie—perhaps the flying monkeys. The sparklers—perhaps my young mind thought it was fire.
It is such an odd thing because there were so many other things I should have been scared of that I wasn’t. In the main, children tend to be carefree and wild until parents or life teaches them to fear. According to Psychology Today, we are not born with fear. Fear is something that is developed over time, and we don’t demonstrate fear until 8 to 12 months. It is something we learn by conditioning, having a negative experience, or taking on someone else’s fear.
I won’t go deep into the woods about the types of fear. What I want to hone in on is addressing fears that keep us in bondage, from reaching our full potential, or moving to the next level, which delays our progress. One fear or anxiety I developed after a car accident is fear of driving on the freeway. After talking to a therapist about this, I learned about exposure. So, I would drive on the freeway for two exits just for exposure. Then I went on longer drives. If I got spooked, I would get off.
Another way to conquer fear is to vocalize it. Sister Rachel recently talked about shame, and I found her remarks spot on. Shame keeps us in fear. I have learned two things about vocalizing fears. One, for some reason, voicing fears reduces the power they hold over me. Two, I have found that, once I share, I learn how many people also share the same fear. I was surprised how many people I know that have anxiety around driving, driving on the freeway, driving during rain, driving at night, etc. And people facing their fear and driving anyway gives me the courage to continue to face mine as well.
The Bible is filled with verses about not fearing and not being afraid, which leads me to believe that God knew it was something we would struggle with. If you are dealing with fear and anxiety, you are in good company. I also believe that God doesn’t want us to live our life in bondage because of fear or anxiety. We can take our fears to God. As mentioned above, we can also practice exposure and share our fears with trusted people—be it a therapist, pastor, or close friend.
I attended a Be Bold Be You conference some years back, and a speaker shared a quote she used for inspiration. The essence of the quote is to be afraid but do it anyway. It is in line with another saying, which says courage is not the absence of fear but the ability to act despite it. When God gives you a vision, you can do it even when fear tells you that you can’t.
I’m currently in a season of reflection, and I’ve been thinking about opportunities I didn’t take because I talked myself out of because of a mixture of fear, lack of courage, and uncertainty. One thing I know today is that I want everything God has for me. I don’t want to let anything cause me to miss anything, especially anything God has given us authority over!
This issue is about moving in courage, and our fears keeps us from that. Look at your life and begin tackling whatever is holding you back. Remember Deuteronomy 31:6, which says, “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”
LaTonja Brown 