Choose Faith Over Fear

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. – 1 Peter 5:7

For most of my life, I let fear control me instead of having faith.

I wouldn’t say anything in class until I had to, because I was more afraid of being wrong and people making fun of me than just answering the question. In some cases, I had the right answer in my mind, but I’d never say it. After someone finally answered the question right, I would think to myself, Why didn’t I just answer the question. I was right. Ugh! Why do you do this to yourself?

No matter if I’d sit towards the front or back of church, I would think everyone behind me was staring at me.

Sometimes, I’d talk myself out of going to church on Wednesday nights because I had too much homework when the truth is, I was scared. Scared I’d be sitting alone.

I hated when people told me I’m shy. I always took it the wrong way and thought there was a problem with me being that and that I needed to fix it.

These are all fears that have prevented me from so many things. I never would let random people see who I was from the beginning. Yes, I’ll admit I’m shy around new people I meet, but once you get to know me, I loosen up a bit. I love to make people laugh. “When you laugh, I laugh.” I’ve been this way since I was a little girl, but I’d only show it to friends and family I was comfortable being around.

Thinking I was completely alone in all of this was what hurt me the most. I’d listen to the lies my mind would come up with and believe it. I believed every word of it when the truth is, no matter how much I though I was alone, I wasn’t and either are you.

Stop letting your mind play tricks on you. You aren’t the only one who has a fear of being single the rest of your life so you go after guys who don’t have God in their lives. Stop settling for relationships you know aren’t going to last. There is power in prayer. Maybe write a list of standards you want in a guy like for example:

I want him to love Jesus.

I want him to care about people.

His love for people will shine bright from his love for Jesus.

I want him to pursue me. All of me. All of my flaws and imperfections.

I want to be able to trust him with my heart.

Date with a purpose.

Stop letting “I’m not as smart as her” or “I take longer on tests” define how well of a student you are. You are limiting yourself.

The minute I saw someone turn in a test first, I thought since I wasn’t done, I was taking too long and needed to go faster. The problem wasn’t that I wasn’t fast enough. The problem was comparison. I’m not supposed to be like her. I’m meant to be me.

Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. – Galatians 6:4

If you can relate, stop worrying about how fast your classmates take tests because you will do so much better in the end. Trust me!

Comparison is the thief of joy.

This semester, I took a dual credit, online speech class and let me tell you, I had some ups and downs.

I started panicking when I had to give a speech to my mom and grandparents because it had to be turned in that day, I was making mistakes, mom had a football game to get to, and my grandparents needed to get home. The fear of not getting it completed paralyzed me to where I was panicking and couldn’t focus on anything. The only thing that got me through it was to calm down and have faith that I would get through it.

He will give you peace when your fear is crippling you.

Find your identity in Him instead of letting your fears and others define how valuable you are. And if you’re struggling about it…PRAY! He has time for you. He’s waiting. You won’t have to call Him and be on hold.

You are loved. You are cherished. And He wants you to pursue a relationship with Him.

So, go the rest of your day, week, month, or year knowing that God cares for you and that He’s got your back.

So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?” – Hebrews 13:6