“Just Do It Afraid” a title coined by Eric T. Wagnor, on forbes.com inspired my blog today.
For many, creatives and entrepreneurs especially, just getting your stuff out there is scary business.
If I listed all the many reasons of why a creative or entrepreneur should hold back, you’d probably stop reading.
However, if all they did was hold back, we certainly wouldn’t have many of the artistic works or businesses that enhance our lives. Many of these, we place such a high value on that our lives now depend on them.
Consider….
The music that gets you through a hurt. What if the songwriter held back?
The film that is the only thing that can make you laugh. What if the filmmaker or anyone involved said: “I can’t”?
The business that helps you manage your life? The banker? The CPA? The______ (you fill in the blank).
What about the comfort a restaurant brings?
Or…
What if the Apostle Paul never wrote or never preached? Where would we be without the words the Holy Spirit inspired him to say?
(On a funny side, where would many weddings be without 1 Cor. 13? “Love is patient, love is kind…”?)
You get the point.
So what did Paul and the rest do? I think Eric said it well: (They) “Just Did It Afraid”.
2 And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony[a] of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human[b] wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
Consider Paul’s journey. When he wrote this, he had been preaching for a while… and he still had fear.
Consider Joshua in the Old Testament. The dude had trounced through the parting of the Red Sea and had served under Moses for years. He was definitely experienced… and he feared!
I love how God met Joshua's fear with encouragement when He comissioned Joshua to pursue the promised land.
“Do not be terrified. Do not be discouraged. For the Lord your God, will be with you wherever you go,” (Joshua 1:9).
Look at any businessman or creative and I bet they’d admit, yes, fear goes with the territory.
“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear,” Mark Twain.
There is always going to be something to fear. That’s part of our nature; to agonize.
Ps. 37:5 says: “Do not fret, for it only causes harm,” (NKJV).
Think of how much illness is caused by stress? We have all suffered our share.
Thus, what do we do?
If fear is inevitable, then we must place boundaries around it or fear will become our idol, the very thing that enslaves us.
Consider how many decisions you make out of fear. Alarming, isn’t it?
Our first step, then, is to ask for God’s wisdom in how to handle the situation. Submit it to Him and wait for His answer. Search His word and wait for His confirmation.
Secondly, outline the boundaries you will give to fear. Fear will rule your life if you let it because without proper boundaries around it, fear will conjure up more fear and then drive you insane. (Haven’t we all been there?!)
Third. Depend on God’s strength, not your own. Paul was able to speak because he refused to base his message on his own ability. He based it on the dependable, never changing, trustworthy God, whose Spirit gives us everything we need when we need it.
Ultimately, realize what Fear’s goal is. Fear wants to be an idol. So does Negativity. So does everything within our fallen nature. They all want to be idols.
And what do idols want? To enslave.
But, God wants to bring freedom.
So, choose the path that allows for freedom. Place boundaries around fear and most importantly….
Rest knowing that with God you do not have to fear. For with Him, you can trust His ability, His strength and His power. You can trust His wisdom, which is why you must seek it, then remain in it.
And know that God has planned something special inside of you-- even if it doesn't feel that way-- (really, don't trust your feelings on this.)
It is a treasure that is meant to:
come forth,
be enjoyed,
and bring other's closer to Him.
Don't allow fear to deny this birth,
this being,
that is meant to bring life to others.
this being,
that is meant to bring life to others.
So.....
Go do what you have been called to do and know that God is with you the entire way.
Just Do It Afraid.
p.s. a friend sent me a message after reading today's blog with words spoken by the actor Jim Carey. His words are so relevant: "You can fail at what you don't want. So, you might as well take a chance at doing what you love." Thanks, Friend(:
Copy © Candice Irion, 2015. All Rights Reserved.
"Just Do It Afraid," excerpt from: "3 Ways To Stop Fear From Stealing Your Dreams". Wagoner, Eric T. Forbes.com, 11.29.2012.
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