So, I am not particularly a Joyce Meyer fan, but as I was looking up Bible verses to go along with the phrase that’s been on my heart lately, a book she recently wrote and published popped up with the exact same title as what I had typed in my Google search bar- “Do It Afraid”. I guess I’m not the only one who has been getting that message.
I don’t know about you friend, but the past several months have been one of the most difficult seasons of my life. I have never been more unsure of myself. I have experienced spiritual attacks of fear so crippling I have been brought to tears on my closet floor. I have lost weight, I have lost sleep, I have been stripped of every self assurance, self reliance and reduced to a blubbering pile of uselessness scratching, clawing, BEGGING for a corner of my Savior’s robe to cling to because I am terrified of taking a step outside of His will. I have a hunch that this is exactly where He wants me.
See, I’m convinced that the outcome of the task He has set before me is not nearly as important as the valley I have to walk through to get there. This journey has been beyond rough, and for someone who has prided herself on never needing anyone for anything, needing to rely on God just for the strength to stomach a piece of toast in the morning has been a humbling experience. But oh, the God moments.
For all of the fear, pain and doubt, I have also never been more sure of the awesome power of God. Friends, there is nothing and I mean NOTHING that is outside of His control. From space and time, weather, to the smallest most minute detail -He is above it all. I have seen it. I have experienced it. I have been brought from moments of absolute terror to hysterical joy because of it. These faith building moments, though horrible and uncomfortable beyond all description, have also led to my biggest assurances that God lives and reigns and deserves our praise. I have set my feet on the Rock and I shall not be moved.
That is how I know that whatever “IT” is in your life, that thing that He is calling you to do but fear, uncertainty, doubt are keeping you from- God wants you to do it even if you’re afraid. God didn’t care that Moses had a speech impediment or that going back to Egypt with a bounty on his head was not an ideal situation- He had a point to make.
God wasn’t concerned with the fact that David was a small boy with a slingshot up against a giant that the entire Israeli army cowered in front of- He had a plan to execute. He didn’t care that for Esther to show up before the King without an invite could easily mean a death sentence anymore than He was worried about what would happen if he found out she was a Jewess- because He had appointed her for such a time as this.
The only reason we are ever afraid is because we limit God. Our humanness is dependent on what we can see but God doesn’t operate on that level and neither does faith. Faith “is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1. Faith is not something we are born with, but a gift (Ephesians 2:8-9) and a characteristic that is produced in our lives by the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). But like all gifts, it must be nurtured and exercises in order to gain strength.
We develop our faith by studying our Bible and spending time with God, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). But adversity is God’s most effective tool to strengthen faith and that pattern is evident throughout the Bible. Before God placed David on the battlefield to face Goliath, HE first built him up by giving him the strength to kill both a lion and a bear so that by the time David was gathering 5 stones to battle the giant, his real weapon, his faith, was a sharpened, honed and lethal skill.
So whatever you are walking through now, stay the course knowing that the goal is to bring you closer to God and the reward is a deep, strong, unshakable faith that can withstand whatever comes against you.
