Have you ever felt a surge of fear stop you in your tracks as you were pursuing a plan or trying something new? The fear was experienced perhaps in your thoughts that spiraled or repeated the same thoughts as you may felt an increase in your heart rate. You may even have begun to change your course and talk your way out of your pursuit. That is how fear works and it actually has a job to do. The job of fear is not to stop you, but to alert you of the sensations that send signals throughout your body and travel into you your thought process. Those signals can be felt in your body through perhaps through the secretion of perspiration and beads of sweat welling up on your forehead, underarms or other areas of your body. Each signal is a message so please do not ignore your fear symptoms or even allow them to stop you. Instead allow fear to communicate to you through listening to the message that is signaling your response to run, stop or fight what may be ahead of you by simply pausing and writing out your thoughts.
You see, thinking about fear can lead to ruminating, re-thinking, re-hashing and possibly revisiting thoughts and or experiences that may be unrelated to the current feeling of fear in the moment. Faith says, I am afraid, I trust myself to make a sound decision because God has given me the spirit of power, love and a sound mind.
As you learn to use your faith to work through your fear, you may send messages such as the following to yourself: “I appreciate the fear however, I shall not let these thoughts consume, rule or ruin my moment of peace.” “I have some steps that can guide me through exercising my faith to inspire me”. Using insight through throughout your fearful moments can inspire you to trust in faith that you will be clear in making a sound choice even if the choice in the moment is to do or say nothing. Try these simple steps to prevent fear from stopping and or chastising you with recurring thoughts will encourage you to invite faith on the fear journey. The goal is to inspire you and support you in being clear in your decision by moving forward through the fear.
1. Acknowledge your fear
2. In faith note the symptoms and or how you experience fear
3. Write down the feelings, thoughts and concerns that are triggered
4. Lay it down and carry out your current mission
5. Return to your written feelings, thoughts, and concerns
6. Create advantages and disadvantages of going through with your plan
7. Phone a trusted friend, colleague, or mentor and note the outcome of number 5 if you are still on the fence
8. Pray and ask God in faith for courage and strength to make a sound choice
9. Thank God for the faith given which provides comfort and peace
These steps may help you to decrease worry and fear-based patterns of thinking by incorporating steps to building your faith. Over time, you may begin to see that making decisions can be challenging but, God has given us faith that grants grace, mercy and peace to make sound decisions. The Bible teaches use in the following scripture: 2 Timothy 1:7 God did not give us a spirit of fear but a spirit of love, power and a sound mind. God understands your every thought, feeling and worry, and even sends confidants, support systems, friends, loved ones to support your through your fearful moments. Please try these simple steps and see if they can help to open a pathway of freedom from fear stopping patterns and invite faith driven decisions.
Thank you, dear reader, for taking this time to read our blog message. May it have inspired you in some way.