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Black Hole of Fear |
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by Mark Stevens,
author of God is a Saleman
© and reprinted by permission from The B & B Media Group
I Hear It Every Day of My Life.
"I am afraid."
People tell me they are afraid of losing money. Of getting sick.
Of being misunderstood. Of shooting too high. Of shooting too
low. Of breaking some kind of social code someone at Harvard
invented. Of being disliked. Of taking a risk. Of doing what
society frowns at.
What they are really saying in so many words
is that they are afraid of life. And once this fear is allowed
to fester, once it is left unchecked, once it qualifies for
all manner of justification, it sucks its victims into a black
hole. In John 14 Jesus addresses fear. He simply says “I
am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart.
And the peace I give isn’t like the peace the world gives.
So don’t be troubled or afraid.” (New Living
Translation)
If we let it, fear mushrooms and life diminishes. It is a miserable
syndrome. It is paralyzing. It leaves its marks frozen in a
compromised place, hostage to what everyone else wants but detached
from the experiences, the journey, they really want to take.
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Fear makes millions, even
billions, their own worst enemy. Their heart says fly me away
to this beautiful vision that stands before me. Let me take
it by its outstretched hand and soar to a place I know will
be exhilarating, magnificent, rewarding, challenging, intoxicating,
delicious. The hand is honest and pure and true and loving and
willing to reach out over and over again, but the coupling never
occurs.
Fear strikes. Fear stops. Fear freezes the momentum in its tracks.
The person who needs to be safe, to pass the acid test of acceptability
imposed by anonymous crowds, to walk the beaten path, to do
the traditional thing, to insure against failure, says "No"
to the dangerous liaison, the high risk project, the change
in direction, the road the priests of false morality seek to
bar from passage (for all but themselves.)
Paradoxically, fear prevails when in truth there is nothing
in life to fear. There is nothing in death to fear. Fear is
the enemy of life. If one has faith in God, if one simply identifies
the few genuine truths and passions in their lives and pursues
them with zest and courage, well that is the definition of a
life well lived.
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Replace Fear with
Faith
The universal aspiration should be to replace
fear with faith. There are so many rich things you can do with
your life that have zero guarantee of success but which you
must jump into like a child cannon balling into a summer pond.
Your career.
Your romance.
Your friendships.
Your time alone.
Your time with many.
All must be conducted with a determination to live in faith
as God created us to. To fully cultivate the gift of life, to
take the chances, to embrace the risks, to put the standard
setters, the paper prophets, back in their boxes and to busy
themselves with others. Jesus says His peace is greater that
that of the world and I believe Him. I have experienced it,
have you? It is right here for the taking.
You Can Live a Life of Faith
Begin now. You will not fear. You will pick
your goals, decide when to act, walk the high wire, and care
nothing at all when the fear mongers chasten you. You will go
to that special place where people achieve and experience the
exceptional. You will never again look back and say I let it
get away out of fear. Psalm 34:4 states “I prayed
to the Lord, and He answered me, freeing me from all my fears.”
(New Living Translation)
You will not fear. You see the black hole. It is not for you.
Step out and live with faith.
God gives us life and there is too much life to live.
This used with permission of The B&
B Media Group (www.tbbmedia.com)
along with credit to Mark Stevens, God
Is A Salesman 2008
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Scripture taken from the Holy Bible,
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright © 1973, 1978,
1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout
the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks
of International Bible Society. Use of either trademark for
the offering of goods or services requires the prior written
consent of International Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible,
New Living Translation, copyright ©1996. Used by permission
of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189, USA. All
rights reserved.
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