What Scares You?

I’m not going to lie. The swing in the picture above scares me to death. I could never see myself doing that in a million years. I am not a fan of heights. I see no purpose in doing that sort of thing because I’m just not that kind of thrill seeker. My fear of heights keeps my feet planted firmly on the ground for the most part. (But I love to fly, imagine that?)

I have other fears as well. Fear isn’t always bad. Fear keeps us grounded. It prevents us from doing a lot of crazy things that might not turn out too well. Our job is to understand when fear is a good thing, and when it has been sent to keep us in our place when we should be doing the thing.
 
For instance, there are a lot of roller coasters that I will never take a ride on. I think there's a very good possibility of me having a heart attack if I did. I see no benefit in putting myself through that kind of stress. It would be much better for me to keep my feet on the ground.

But sometimes God asks us to do things that are scary. And, often when He asks something of us fear comes in like a flood. Why? One word—Satan. When God begins to ask us to step out of our comfort zone, the enemy is quick to point out all the reasons why we shouldn’t. He knows that whatever we do for God will mess up his pathetic plans.

God often asks us to do things that we would never dream of doing. We are usually quick to point out why we are a bad choice for the task. We are afraid we will fail, or—oddly enough—maybe we’re afraid we will succeed. Either way, when we are walking closely to God we can count on Him to ask bigger things of us than we could imagine for ourselves.

Just recently I have felt like God has been dealing with me about going into another type of ministry. It literally scares me silly. I would be so far outside of my comfort zone I might be prone to have a panic attack. But, where is the fear coming from? Is it fear of others opinions? Is it fear of failure? Is it fear for my own personal well-being?
 
Sometimes if we can identify the actual source of the fear, we are better situated to deal with it. We can answer many of our fear related questions by referring to God’s Word.

“Obviously I am not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.” Galatians 1:10 NLT


“This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 NLT


“The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” Psalm 118:6 ESV


So, today I ask you—what scares you? And, what are you going to do about it?