Everything you want is on the other side of fear.
I looked down at this expression engraved in the charm on my running shoe. As I laced up and prepared for a training run, I was afraid. I was fearful of all the “what if?” scenarios constantly playing in my mind. Anxiety was creeping into my heart as I wondered what unknown catastrophe awaited me. Fear is like that, sister. It is paralyzing. If given the opportunity, it will stop you in your tracks. I knew I had a goal, and I recognized that success was on the other side of my fear. How do you become fearless? I want you to know it’s possible to take your fear and boldly walk over it to the other side. Not only is it possible, it’s what you were created to do.
I was training for the New York City Marathon, and I was running for charity in honor of a friend. Running that distance in that city was a dream come true. With the opportunity to run for a purpose, my goal transformed from a bucket list item to finishing strong for someone else. When I approached the task of training, I anticipated the challenge to be completing the hundreds of miles required over the course of 16 weeks to prepare my body for 26.2 miles on marathon day. What started as a physically daunting task soon became a battle against fear.
You may be surprised at how many imagined disasters crossed my mind. Let’s take a moment to focus on one word in that previous sentence. Imagined. That word is what fear represents: worry, stress, and anxiety about events which have not occurred. I battled this fear with the most powerful weapon we have in this life–truth. My running playlist transformed into a library of worship songs with themes of confidence, victory, and strength. My thoughts during training runs shifted from the replay of imagined scenarios to time spent in prayer. Long runs at my pace are hours in length. As I was logging the necessary miles, training time represented precious close to God time. In this time, He told me who I was and what I was meant to be. A conqueror. A warrior. Brave. Victorious. Fearless.
“O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31)
You and I are not the only ones who have faced fear. Let’s take a look at a part of Peter’s story. Jesus was walking on the stormy sea to join his disciples in their boat. Peter, a man of action, asked Jesus to let him join him on the water. Jesus did, and Peter stepped out of the boat and walked on the water to Jesus. Scripture tells us that Peter became aware of the howling wind and the roaring sea around him. He felt afraid. The instant he felt fear, his feet started to sink. As quickly as he started to sink, Jesus reached out and pulled him up to safety.
Fear will sink us, but Jesus saves us. The second we let our fears take hold of our mind, we’ve already started to sink. Sister, whatever your fear is today, you don’t have to carry it. It’s too heavy. He’s walking this life with you. Even as you feel a storm raging against you, He is there to pull you up. You are not made to sink. I gave my fears to the One who calms the stormy sea, and I ran victorious across the finish line of the New York City Marathon.
You, too, are created to be fearless. “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7). Take whatever fear you have today. Write it down or say it aloud– whatever you need to do to voice it. Then, give it to Him. My prayer for you is that you immediately feel lifted, like Peter from the depths of the water. You will make it to the other side. The charm on those running shoes? It remains there. It represents a battle won. Get ready, sister. You’re soon to have your own story of victory.
SisterShred 