Dread, Fear and Questions

“There they were, overwhelmed with dread, when there was nothing to dread.” ~ Psalm 54:5.

Have you ever been really afraid of something, then gotten through it and discovered that you really enjoyed it and there was nothing to be afraid of? I do it all the time. I have something I have to do and I think it’s going to be terrible. I get really nervous, dread it, make myself sick over it. And then it happens and everything is fine, I even enjoy myself. Why was I so afraid? It was fear of the future. It wasn’t really the task that scared me, it was not knowing how it would turn out. Fear of the unknown. I hate that. I try to overcome my fears but it’s so hard.

Here’s another question: Have you ever had something to say, but didn’t speak up? This happens to me all the time; mostly in bigger groups. Someone asks a question, I think of an answer, but I don’t say anything. Why? I’m afraid of what other people think, I’m afraid I’ll be wrong or that they’ll think I’m wrong. So I keep my mouth shut. I let my fear rule my life. And I’m so sick of it.

So why the heck am I so afraid? It says in the Bible that God is the only one we should fear. “The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, He is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread.” ~ Isaiah 8:13. So God is the only one I should fear. Yeah, like I can do that. I’ve been realizing recently that I’m afraid of a lot of people. In fact, I’m afraid of people in general. It’s so frustrating. I don’t understand how some people can be so confident. Where do they get it from? “For the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared.” ~ Proverbs 3:26. So if I ask to help me be confident, will it just be like, bam! I’m confident? No, I think we have to go out on the limb, trust Him and He’ll take care of us. So, instead of not speaking up when someone asks a question, I need to take that breath and start talking and trusting God to take care of me. That’s hard. Trust is hard. And there are different kinds of trust too. But that’s for another time. I wasn’t to talk about fear some more.

“The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” ~ Psalm 118:6. Good question: what can man do to me? Well, embarrass me, humiliate me, hurt me (physically, emotionally), ignore me, laugh at me, steal from me, you get the idea. But ultimately, in the long, long term what can man do to me? Man can’t make God stop loving me; can’t take me away from Him; can’t stop me from going to heaven or praying; can’t make my family stop caring about me. And if God is on my side, who stands a chance against me? No one. The answer is no on at all. NO ONE!!!! That means man, Satan, demons, anyone in this world. No one. Thinking about that makes me want to laugh with joy. It’s so amazing. And so true. It’s so awesome I can hardly even grasp that idea. Actually, I don’t think I fully can. So then, if God is on my side, and I know no one stands a chance against me, why am I still afraid of people? That is the question I’ve been trying to answer. Let me know if you figure it out. I’d really like to know.