Dan Byl

What holds us back? What stops us from taking that leap of faith, or even just starting the next chapter in our lives? We have this amazing instinct that kicks in that is really there just to ensure self-preservation. In other words keep us from hurting our selves or getting hurt by our surroundings and people in those surroundings.

That instinct is fear, a great tool but if not given to God a wonderful hindrance a times. That feeling you get when you stand on the edge of something, we walk to the edge look down and with out a doubt say or think, wow that’s a lot higher then it looked from down there.

I am really scared of moving into something unknown, I put on a hard exterior and I walk out everything as confidently as I can, or an least as confident looking as possible, don’t want people to see my fear. The old saying, “walk like you own the place and people will think you do.” It’s ok to be afraid but it’s what we do with that fear that matters.

Some of us get stuck we don’t move, we cant go forward and cant go back. Some people put on façades just to deal with the fear, and still others fight. I would say that my tendency is to fight. The only healthy way to deal with fear is to surrender it to God, we need to allow him to walk us through the things that are making us afraid. We need to trust that he sees the big picture and has everything well in hand.

There is a kids song that says “he has the hold world in his hands,” we need to keep those words in the front of our minds. Its ok to be afraid, I think that God allowed us to feel this way so that he could be the dad that we all want him to be.

I know as a kid I would go to my parent’s room if I had a bad dream. As we Get older God fills that role in our lives, because I don’t think our folks would enjoy us barging into there room in the middle of the night, because we don’t know what to do with the rest of our lives. But God doesn’t mind.

We need to give those fears of being hurt, to God, we need to allow him to free us from the stuff that holds us back, from relationship, from moving into what God has for us. We hold onto memories of being lied to, betrayed, used and abused, and then when something that could resemble our past arises we run for cover. We shut doors, build walls and we stick our heads in the ground like an ostrich. (that has to be the least poetic word in the English language, it really killed the flow of that sentence…)

we do this because it makes us feel safe. But it is a false sense of security, if no one gets in then we don’t get hurt, we can’t live like that. We have to allow God to free us from fear. I know that these things are all easier said then done. I am not going to presume to have all the answers. This is still a journey I am on, and it kicks my ass on a regular basis.

But pressing forward, trusting in God, giving him our fear, putting ourselves out there and giving God room to prove him self, is key. Only when we give our fears to God are we able to be who he has called us to be.

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