BREAK UP WITH FEAR!

Proverbs 29:25 (AMP)  The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever leans on, trusts in, and puts his confidence in the Lord is safe and set on high.  

Alright I totally understand what it is like to be afraid.  This time of year there are haunted houses all over the place.  Haunted corn mazes are the newest rage, both of this I hate.  I know that's a strong word but I do not like being afraid, I do not like facing my fears.  I would rather bury them deep down inside of myself and never have to deal with them.  The less I know about my fears, the less I think about them, the more they disappear, right?  Oh, who am I kidding.  My fears do not disappear.  I wish they would just vanish, but alas they don't.  My fears range from fear of heights to fear of speaking in front of people.  Oh trust me there are a lot more but way too many to list.  Spiders, oh there's a big one.  It seems so silly in reality to fear spiders, after all we are bigger than them.  I remember one time I walked downstairs to do the wash and there was this big spider on the floor.  I literally screamed as loud as I could hoping my knight in shining armor would save his damsel in distress.  Only one problem, no one was home.  I had to face that spider alone.  Barefoot and afraid I grabbed the closest thing I could and killed the sucker.  Oh I wish I would have done that, in reality, I ran upstairs and pretended the wash didn't need to be done.  Sound ridiculous?  It was.  Now I think, "How dumb was that!"  But I honestly can't say that I wouldn't so the same thing today.   

Sorry I got carried away for a moment.  Okay back to facing your fears. This is no small task, facing your fears.  It's not a proud moment to admit that something or someone scares you.    Listen we all have our list of fears that keep us from doing something or saying something.  Today lets talk about our fear of people, that's right we are afraid of people.  Don't bother trying to deny it because I know we all fear what people will think of us, what people will say about us and how people will react to us.  We change our course of action, we change our words and we change our behavior in order to please others.  We all do it to some extent.  Some of us live in a constant state of fear in regards to what others think.  Some of us actually change our careers based on what others think.  I know I have changed the way I behave around some people.  I watch what I say and what I do so that I do not offend others.  I hide my true self behind a mask because I am afraid of being unaccepted.  Trust me I remember high school.  Trying to fit into the "in" crowd, well to be honest it was just too much work.  But then and even now (to some extent) I fear what others think.  When that happens it changes me and that is not a good thing.

One thing I have learned recently is that I am not responsible if someone else gets offended by something I say.  I have to be honest, I have to be true to who God created me to be.  If that offends someone or hurts their feelings, than I know that somehow God is trying to deal with them and teach them and yes, He may use something I say or do.  Why is it so important for us to fear offending a friend or a family member, and not fear offending God?  Yes, my mind is screwed up but it's slowly beginning to get straightened out.  Fear of people, fear of what they may think is dumb!  Sorry but I have to be honest.  I need to be more concerned about what God wants me to do and say.  By trusting Him and leaning on Him, I know that what I say and do can be guided by Him.  You see, He wants the best for me,  He wants me to break up with this fear I have of trying to please people.  It is just down right stupid to work so hard in order to make sure everyone around me is happy and that I am not stepping on anyone's toes.  Yes it is great to be polite and courteous, but sometimes we go way too far.  We want people to like us, so we will sacrifice ourselves and our beliefs just in order to please others and not ruffle anyones tail feathers.  Now don't get your panties in a twist here, I am just trying to be honest here.  Admit it!  We fear people!  We want to please people.  We will sacrifice ourselves, in fact we will even sacrifice the purpose of our life, the purpose God has given us, to please people.

That is a sad way to live!  I for one am tired of living in fear.  It is time for me to be me.  It's time for me to stop being fearful of offending people and start trying to stop offending God.  God gave me my mouth for a purpose.  He gave me this blog for a purpose.  FEAR - False Evidence Appearing Real.  Do you get it?  The enemy, the devil wants us to be so fearful of pleasing people that we forget about pleasing God.  It excites him when we change our words and change our actions in order to make someone else happy, even if that makes us miserable.  Listen I am not saying we have to be rude and outspoken and mean.  That's not God's way, but I am saying that we have to stop being afraid of being honest.  Recently I hurt someone's feeling by something I wrote.  I am sorry for that but when God places something on my heart, I have to be honest.  I will no longer hide behind a wall of fear, fearing what people will think of me, I have done that way too long.  I want to be a God pleaser not a people pleaser.  If people get offended by something I say or write or do, then maybe they need to talk with God and find out if that is something they need to change in themselves.. I know for me personally if I get offended by someone else, it usually about an issue I need to deal with and work on.  That was a hard one to face, but it has really helped me.  So today, face your fears.  

Lord, you know these fears I have are real.  I know that these fears are not from you, so fill me today with confidence in you and trust in you alone.  Be with me as I face these fears and be real on honest about who you created me to be, in Jesus name I pray, amen.