Fear: Your Unlikely Signpost

Fear is a great indicator that you’re headed in the right direction.  The place that you are the most afraid of going is often the place of your giftedness, the place that the Lord intends for you to shine. 

Fear and failure.  We don’t look at those as things that point us in the direction of our calling, but they do.  There are of course other things – we have areas of giftedness that don’t feel scary and we should definitely lean into those (I don’t want to suggest that we just look for all of the horrible things and run toward them!).  But the places that you’re often the most gifted in are also the areas you often have the most fear around. 

The Bible reminds us that we have an enemy who studies us and seeks to thwart God’s perfect plan for our lives (1 Peter 5:8).  Your adversary would love nothing more than to intimidate you by fear, and attempt to humiliate you by failure.  But we have a Father who is the king of all the earth and he is our great defense, he is our greatest advocate.  On the cross, Jesus put to shame and made a public spectacle of the enemy (Col 2:15).  And that is what he intends to do through our lives, through your life – make a public spectacle of the enemy.

So, how did I end up here blogging about being courageous, living unveiled, becoming a voice and a spokesperson?  I’ll be the first to tell you that I was perhaps the most reluctant speaker.  I took a very small step forward – a simple, feeble “yes” – and God breathed on it. 

The beautiful thing about having people in your life who’ve known you for a long time is that when something momentous happens that is outside of your normal behavior, they can join with you and give glory to God.  They can say, “Oh I know Connie, she was terrified of public speaking.  The fact that she is starting a ministry centered on public speaking and equipping women speakers can only be the Lord!”

And so, I just want to give glory to Jesus because the fact that I’m a speaker today and that Unveiled exists is truly miraculous.

God is able to take any fear that you have and transform it into a place of triumph.  God is able to take what is impossible before you and transform it to bring glory to his name.  Nothing is impossible with him. God takes anything that hinders us and he transforms it.  That is his nature.  He takes dry bones and says “come to life.”  He calls things into being that are not.  This is our God.  This is your God.  And he is our daddy.  He is our Father. We are daughters in his household.  There is nothing in our lives that he does not intend to transform to bring glory to his name. 

So, what are you afraid of doing in this season?  Are there places where you’ve sense the Lord’s invitation but fear has kept you from taking that first step?  Allow me to encourage you!  When you take the smallest first step of obedience, God will meet you and multiply your effort in ways you could never have imagined.  We often don’t account for the supernatural grace that comes when we step into alignment with the Father’s plan for us.  When we say YES to God, he responds with his YES to us!

What are you going to say YES to this week?  What courageous step forward are you going to take?  Tell me about it in the comments below – we’d love to cheer you on!  You can do this.  Your Heavenly Father is good and He will never leave you hanging.  You can count on that!

So, what are you waiting for?  Come on, there's no time to waste.  Let's get about the business of living out your purpose!

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)