| |
Thoughts for a Woman's Heart |
|
| |
encouragement in things that matter |
|
| |
Fear Factor
|
|
| |
Any one want to consider swimming with alligators, napping with worms, or making appetizers out of a cow’s eyeballs?!?! For most of us, the fear of such stunts keeps the possibility of participation at a far distance. There are the unspeakable fears that we seldom allow our thoughts to go to because of the devastation they would bring – our home being destroyed by fire, or a loved one killed by a drunk driver – to name just two. According to researchers, the most common fears make us apprehensive at the dentist’s office, or they make our bodies react in disconcerting ways if we have to speak (solo, of course), in front of an audience. There is a fear though that afflicts many Christians, and it is the haunting fear of exposure. For some, it means seeing the inconsistencies and failures common to many believers – the slippery tongue of gossip, the frustrations taken out on our kids, the scant, inadequate devotional life, the precarious balance we try to maintain between the enticements of the world around us and our own spiritual consciousness. For these, exposure may be a good thing. It may bring us face to face with our values and priorities to answer questions like, "Am I ignoring this area? Do I need help? Am I willing to get help?" For others, the fear of exposure encompasses the dark areas of our lives. Those places that make us fearful of rejection from others or maybe even from God. Places that can still elicit shame or dread. Places that can make us feel very different from the well-manicured Christians that sit beside us on Sunday mornings. Precious believer, let me encourage those of you who are crippled by such a fear – for it does indeed, cripple. God never intended for His children to carry such a burden. There is no sin – no horrific deed or deeds – that cannot be fully, totally, and completely forgiven by the Father who gave His Son to die for you. Matter-of-fact, if you are His child, that dark area was already forgiven when you accepted God’s gift of salvation! With your acceptance of the gift, every sin you had ever committed, or ever would commit, was judicially cleansed by the blood of the Son, and God declared you His forever loved and forgiven child. It is a distinctive no one can ever take from you. We call it grace. God wants it to erase "the fear factor." Others may not comprehend the grace of God enough to be able to extend the same grace, but you may be the one God uses to help open the eyes of their understanding. |
|
| |
|
— Bev |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
