As Halloween approaches, we can associate the word fear with this holiday. Spooky ghosts, scary movies, and skeletons are everywhere you look. Fear can be all around us this time of year. For a lot of us, fear is around us all the time…not just during Halloween season.
I have fears.
Am I good enough? What about this outfit? What will others think of me? Will they accept me? Will I fail? Should I be a working mom or a stay-at-home mom? Should I send my kids to public school or should I home school? Am I a good enough mom? A good enough wife? A good enough friend?
Fear.
It can be crippling at times.
Living in a constant state of fear is not healthy. It robs you of joy. It extinguishes smiles.
This is something that I struggle with. If I can be honest with you for a moment, I find myself paralyzed in fear daily. I am even fearful to write this. I did not want to post this blog because of the “what ifs”.
Fear can take our minds to places that are very dangerous. It can make us act or think in ways that we know are not right. This is satan robbing us of joy. He wants to steal any joy that we are experiencing either in the present or in the future.
When I start to feel the life sucked out of me, I remind myself that God is in control. He has big plans for me and my family. I cannot live in a state of constant fear and with the “what ifs”.
Today, right now, we have a BIG God who loves us so much that He is walking along each of us.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Today we can stop living in fear and start living with the promise that the creator of the universe has given us. Do not let satan steal your joy. God has blessed us all in many ways and we need to celebrate and rejoice in that!
I have lived in fear for many years. I have learned that living this way hurts others because I do not allow them to truly get to know me based on my fear of what they might think of me.
You might be living in fear today. What will they think if they find out? What will the test results say? What if it happens again? What does tomorrow bring? What if I can't make it through today?
Whatever fear might be suffocating you, there is hope. There is a healer.
Stop. Pray. Trust. Fear no evil.
God has big plans for your life. He is waiting for you to turn to Him.
He is with us. He will protect us.
Shayla
