Exodus: Stop Walking in CirclesSample

"Fear not; for I am with you. Be not dismayed; for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

I’ve heard it was John Wayne that said, “Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” I believe fear is part of the human experience. Fear, in and of itself, is not good or bad - it’s just a feeling and an emotion that happens in our lives. However, when fear keeps us from living fully when it keeps us from living out our purpose, we need to equip ourselves with healthy ways to overcome. Often when we are stuck and walking in circles, we are letting fear keep us there; fear of not fitting in or not being loved, fear of making a fool of ourselves, fear of being disrespected or even hated - this type of fear can be paralyzing. Some people live their entire lives letting fear have the final vote in all of their decisions, and ultimately being in control of determining the direction for their lives. I don’t always get this part of my life right, but I am learning to recognize and make course corrections along the way.

I can remember one day I was sitting at a stoplight, consumed with discouragement. Something I had been really counting on with my business had just fallen through.

“It’s over,” I thought“It’s time to give up and leave this dream behind. This path wasn’t meant for you anyway. You don’t have what it takes and you’re never going to get this right.”

My eyes filled with tears as I took a deep breath, I cried out to God. At that moment, I had a realization. I had felt this way before. I had felt the fear, the discouragement, and the temptation to give up. And last time, it all worked out better than I had ever hoped before. I had to make FAITH conquer the fear.

“I’m not falling for this one. Last time, it turned out ok and I believe it will again.”

Right then and there I decided I would keep pushing forward. I would learn from this experience and it would make me stronger. I would lean into God’s faithfulness, get back in the saddle, and find out what was beyond the next door. And I did. I didn’t always do it perfectly, but my courage muscle grew stronger.

I’ve often wondered about the midwives in Egypt who were ordered to kill all the newborn Hebrew baby boys. I like to think that providential courage was a journey for them - not just a one-time thing. I wonder how many times they’d had opportunities to strengthen their “courage muscle” before Pharaoh’s horrifying order to kill. They certainly practiced overcoming their fear once they had to choose whether or not to throw those babies into the Nile. Scripture tells us that God “was kind” to the midwives for choosing to defy Pharaoh’s orders, and blessed their acts of bravery by giving them families of their own.

As the Hebrew nation prepared to leave and then journeyed out of Egypt, they encountered many moments along their journey that were filled with fear. They were faced with the choice of giving up and going back to enslavement or pushing forward and learning to trust.

So what can we learn from this? One of the things I’ve learned to do over time is to pay attention to the fear, and then move towards it. I know that sounds crazy, but fear is often an indicator that you’re going in the right direction. There can be incredible blessings and breakthroughs on the other side of fear, we just have to decide fear won’t control us. Listen, we will never completely rid our lives of fear, but if we use it as a tool, and we don’t let it have the final say, faith will take us confidently into new seasons.

Prayer:
Father, every day we are faced with temptation and discouragement. We’re so tempted to let fear take control. Will you walk with us as we learn to trust you more? Will you help us to see you clearly, and will you help us to find the blessings you have for us that are on the other side of fear? Thank you for your faithfulness and love. Help us to walk in the freedom you provide.