Facing our fears

Following on from my previous blogs in order to move on we first need to face fears and have courage.

Over the past few years, I have had to face a few fears, be bold and courageous. That is part of overcoming.  Now I'm not saying I do that in every situation as I still have a fear of heights, yet I have learnt some lessons in overcoming fears and being courageous in other parts of my life.

Recently I watched the film 'The Walk' with my son. It is based on the story of French high-wire artist Philippe Petit's walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center on August 7, 1974. The film was amazing. Worth watching even if you don't have a head for heights. I loved the ending but no spoilers!  Even to look at this amazing feat I had to turn my head a few times, scared to look, particularly when he wobbled at various times practising and for real. 

Courage and boldness

Maybe we see courage as some huge daring action such as tight rope walking in high places, bunjee jumping, or parachuting or rescuing someone from a burning building. We see it a bit like a superhero type characteristic.


Courage is moving forward despite fear. It's only when we fight monsters that they go away so we need to acknowledge our fears and face them. In one of my favourite films Bilbo constantly has to face his fears of leaving his comfortable home, facing dark creatures in the night and much more. Yet he finds his courage and at  Journey's End.  Gandalf cheerfully remarks to Bilbo that he is not the hobbit he was. And this is true, for Bilbo and companions bravely elected to undertake the most perilous journey of all: to face their most fearful and painful memories. But then he finds his courage, the inner light is sparked and starts to flame brightly, as symbolised by his sword. He faces the inner fears and is no longer afraid. Ablaze with his new found courage he goes in search of his lost companions. Them then seeing Bilbo's courage take heart themselves and they go on to continue their journey.

I was afraid to leave my marriage for a long time worrying:

• What people might say to me

• What did God think about it (which was the most important to me)

• Financial implications

• Consequences for the children

but I took courage from my faith and decided that things had to change.


What are you fearful of?
A relationship break up
Your health?
Financial problems?
Children?
Work?

2 Timothy 1 v 7 says this.

'For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.'

 The verses which precede it Paul says this to Timothy:- 'I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.'

Paul was encouraging Timothy- Don't worry God has given you all you need - power, love and a sound mind and the faith which your grandparent and mother had lives in you too. 

My Christian heritage goes back to my dads grandfather who got converted on a ship on the way to India. So I can relate to this encouragement. 

I was living with fear in my marriage for a long time. Mostly I withdrew particularly towards the end. I constantly lived in fear of the next thing which might upset my ex husband or what might trigger his anger or frustration so a lot of time I tried not to tell him things in order to avoid the consequences.

Sometimes we try to will ourselves from fear which is very hard to do. We try to control fear in indirect ways by not  keeping company with people who pull us down and worry, or we withdraw from things which cause us to fear. We might withdraw, avoid it or pretend
 it's not there.

Fear can either be an enemy or an ally.  Fear can take away your motivation, your faith, your ability, confidence and your purpose.  Fear is the first thing that God warned Joshua about and discouragement was the second in Joshua 1:9 but Joshua had faith to see his mission through. Fear can turn into a debilitating cycle in your life. 

John Maxwell in his book, 'Falling Forward' says that it starts with Fear, progresses to Inactivity, results in Inexperience and ends in Inability.

The remedy is not letting fear control us and shifting our perspective onto God trusting in faith that he has given us a spirit of power, love and a sound mind (to make decisions) so we can move forward.

Being bold means we choose to believe that God is bigger than our fears and commit to action.

There is a  true story of a 37 year-old man in the Soviet Union who one day astonished friends and neighbours. He had been thought dead for eighteen years, when one day he emerged from under a pile of goat poop shrieking, “I want to work! I want to live!”

His neighbours were astonished by this because they all believed him to have been killed in World War II 18 years earlier. The story, as it turns out, is that on the night he was marching off to war, he deserted, and sneaked home to the hiding place that his parents made for him under the manure pile at the back of the family goat shed. His mother had told him, “Don’t mind the goats and the poop – at least you’ll survive.”
So there he stayed for eighteen years, afraid of coming into the light in case his neighbours and the government found out he had been a deserter. 

Maybe you can relate  to this . Has there been a battle waiting for you to fight it, and instead of going to war you went into hiding. You pretended like it didn’t exist, and instead of going forward in life, you hid under a pile of shame, problems, self interest and despair.

I had to make that choice to say I don't want to be in hiding, I want to fight for my purpose in life. 

One of the verses which helped me when I left my marriage with nowhere to live and the possibility of being homeless was this: 

I had to have faith that God would work things out- and he has.  I have to keep reminding myself that I can be courageous and face whatever it is with faith in God.

Faith also pleases God. Hebrews is full of mention of people who acted in faith and faced their fears to overcome.

Let's be people who face our fears with faith in God who is always with us.

New beginnings - The importance of remembering and pressing on...

                                  

New beginnings -Remembering and pressing on...

In my last post one of the points I wrote about is the ability to 'keep moving' and I thought it would be appropriate to take this as my New Year theme. However I thought I would reflect on remembering before moving or pressing on.

Hosea 6:3

So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord.

His going forth is as certain as the dawn.

And He will come to us like the rain.....

Like the spring rain watering the earth.

These or ..................................................................... these?

                                    

                      

Sometimes we become familiar with the 'old things' such as comfy slippers, or pair of shoes, or certain operating systems on computers. However these things start to become worn out, or slow and at some point they need replacing. To keep our life running smoothly we need to replace these with new ones. I know that although I can be excited about the new things, I also have pangs of regret that I couldn't keep the old one working or that my new slippers won't be as comfy as the old ones! We can sometimes resist change until it becomes absolutely necessary. However we quickly become accustomed to the new things and then hardly remember the old. It is amazing how quickly we adapt to change and we are able to leave the familiar behind. Things that once were important and felt comfortable to us become insignificant as newer experiences take their place. This is particularly true of the Israelites as they enter the promised land. However new things can be a good thing but there are also consequences and commitment needed such as when you start a diet or fitness regime.


New beginnings can sometimes be our choice and sometimes they may not be. Sometimes we have to learn how to live in the midst of a new beginning that we didn't expect or even want. Often letting go of the familiar and comfortable involves pain and discomfort like breaking in a new pair of shoes or walking boots can be painful at first and cause some blisters until they settle in.
New beginnings can be scary and we can find ourselves paralysed afraid to take another step. However we need to be focused on the goal set before us, keeping our eyes on the prize as Paul says. This calls for commitment, endurance, persistence, resolute, stickability and determination.



One particular memorable moment was when I climbed Scafell Pike with my two children and the further we climbed the more foggy it became. We couldn't even see the cairns on the path to guide us. It was very scary as we didn't know the way ahead and any further steps could take us closer to the edge and then to possible death. So being the responsible parent with terrified children and being fearful myself I decided to turn back. It was at that point a group with an experienced leader came along with their electronic GPS and they were going to continue to the summit so we asked if we could tag along and so we did, as we had set our eyes on achieving the goal of reaching the summit of England's highest mountain and with help at hand it seemed a real possibility. We reached the summit but sadly didn't get any views but we were happy nonetheless.  If you would like to read our experience I found it whilst looking up images of fog on mountains to use in this post and stumbled across a report we wrote and published. I can't remember writing it but funny to stumble across it!

http://www.mountainwalk.co.uk/scafellexperience.html

and here is our 2011 video (if it shows up - still working on it showing) to accompany it if you are so inclined to see Scafell Pike in the mist! 

The point of this illustration  is that when we rely on our own strength for the next step we can fear and not move or turn back. When we are afraid we can trust God being the experienced guide with the best GPS who knows the way ahead and guides you step by step.

The new thing which began in the Apostle Paul would take him into hostile cities, stormy seas and prison cells. He learnt to press on long after the newness had worn off. 

I have been reading Exodus this last few weeks as part of the #BCaD Bible Chapter a Day project some folks from our church have been doing and one particular theme which I've noticed is in Exodus that the leaders constantly remind the people  of Gods faithfulness to them in the past, and how God has fulfilled his promise to them and will continue to do so. In order to press on we need encouragement from what God has done in the past.

             

Why do we need to remember? Two main reasons...

Because we have selective memories.  Do you notice that God didn't wait until the people had got across the Red Sea? God didn't wait until they were in the Promised Land.  God established these memorials because He knew that people remember things selectively.

In our spiritual life we often forget we were once without hope, forget that our salvation depends on God's grace not our goodness,forget the times we thought God had forgot us but was really working behind the scenes,forget the promises we made to God and to each other

The second reason we need to remember the past is Because it Reminds us Of Our Blessings 

We like history as a family and looking back and learning about the past and how the past has shaped our future and remembering what the past has done for us. The same with the Bible. We can read and understand about Jesus from the Old Testament historical accounts. It gives us a greater understanding and fuller picture of what God is like and how everything came into being which helps us make sense of the here and now and gives hope for the future. Also, looking back at our past helps us identify who we are, how God has led us this far and produces thankfulness.

Isn't it great to get out those old video tapes of the kids growing up?  Isn't it a precious thing to look through the photo albums and remember the people who have touched our lives and the events that enriched us? It's hard to look at those things and not be grateful for the blessings we've had.  Sometimes when I start to feel a little discouraged I often will pull out my journals I have where I have placed a number of notes that I have written over the years. I take those notes out and read them and it helps me remember that things are not always hard and life is not always discouraging. There are times when we are able to make a difference.

It is so important to keep believing that the One who has made every promise to us is forever faithful. Through times of loss, hardship and discouragement those times do not change the truth of who God is. Though clouds may block the rays of sunshine and we don't always feel it's warmth, we can be assured that the sun is always shining. The encouragement of God's faithfulness in the past should give us the courage to believe he will be faithful in our present circumstances and in to the new beginning and future. He is with us walking with us in the foggy times and in the sunshine too. You may not always feel he is present but he is always working behind the scenes and walking with you.

Bill Johnson said 'Never look at our disappointments or what God has not done'. This can be difficult to practise. It may seem like you have had a year of disappointments and God has been silent this year and not moving things forward however he is working behind the scenes. He says keep pressing in, don't give up, keep on being faithful and presevere...

As we have wrapped up 2015 may God give us strength to hold fast to the hope we profess, remember what God has done, press on and not give up, having the confidence that God is who He says He is and we are who He says we are. Let us not waiver in our faith so we can keep running the race towards the  prize and keep our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus the author and perfector of our faith.

Here is s song about Moving Forward with God. He makes all things new.

I wish you all a very Happy New Year of remembering and pressing on... to new beginnings and focusing on the One who makes it all happen and the One who loves us more than we ever know. Make it your goal to remember but to press on this year growing deeper into Jesus and rooting yourself more in him so whatever comes your way you will be able to press in and keep firm.