Facing Our Fears

Faith@Work is a Navigators sponsored monthly luncheon for business women in Albuquerque, NM.  Its mission is helping business and professional women live out their faith more intentionally in their workplaces.  We do this through several different means:

•    Presenting challenging messages each month from local practitioners who are learning how to live on purpose for God.  
•    Promoting, developing and implementing Bible Studies in the workplace for women across the city.
•    Recruiting, training and utilizing volunteers in a variety of ways to reach out and connect with other business women each month at the luncheons.


Faith@Work Message, May 17, 2010;  "Facing Our Fears"

Albuquerque, New Mexico
Speaker:  Anita C. Lee

The world we live in today is full of things that can generate fear in our hearts on a daily basis.  There are very real threats to our safety, our security and our religious freedom that we are reminded of every time we look at a newspaper or turn on the TV.  These kinds of fears prompt us to respond in specific ways to protect ourselves, remove ourselves from danger and defend our rights.  God even warns us to “be on the alert, for our adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
 

There is another kind of fear we can experience though, that comes from a more intangible source; our own insecurities.  The fear of stepping out in faith to do the things God is calling us to do can prevent us from experiencing the grace He has in store for us.  Anita Lee, a trained life coach and Christian counselor, spoke at Faith@Work in May, and gave us some sound advice on facing “the fears that keep us from soaring”.


When you consider the question, “what would I do if I knew I couldn’t fail,” what comes to mind?  Is it something you’ve never tried before?  Is it something you’ve shoved to the back of your mind, considering it too unlikely to ever come to pass?  Are there some “fears” associated with pursuing that dream?  Anita suggested that there are three prominent reasons for our insecurity-induced fears:  the fear of looking foolish, the fear of failing and the fear of being rejected.  When we can overcome these fears and realize that “bad decisions are seldom fatal” we can find ourselves willing to take more risks.


Here are some encouraging tips Anita shared to help us face our fears and let God use us more fully in our work:


1.    Put your trust in God.  2 Tim 1:7 says “for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.  If God has called you, He will equip you.

2.    Look for encouragers.  Find people you trust who will pray for you, cheer you on and hold you accountable to take the next step of faith.

3.    Write down your ideas.  Keep a journal of the changes you want to make;  these can become prayers as you seek God’s wisdom.

4.    Don’t worry about the “how”; concentrate on the “what”.  God gives us just enough light for the next step.