what would you do if you weren't afraid?

What would you do if you weren't afraid?

I write the words in sketch my book, making them look pretty. I trace over the letters with a blue sharpie, then color over them with colored pencils. I sit; I stare. What would I do? If there was no fear, if we all just embraced what came our way, if we all just chose joy instead of this bleak life we have before us, what would we do?

What would I do?

Fear.

It's a word we use in our vocabulary without even thinking about the real meaning behind the word. Fear. It's a word we just throw out there as if it doesn't mean anything. Are we really afraid? Is there anything to really be afraid of?

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of love, and of a sound mind.” II Timothy 1:7

So why do we fear?

We look at things with our human limitations and we don't see a pathway. All we can see if the catastrophe of the avalanche that life has left before us. All we can see is the pillars of smoke spirraling from the out of control fire of the forest. All we can see if the boulders that lay in the middle of the road, and the fallen tree trunks that have blocked out pathway.

We are nothing.

Our human minds tell us this over and over again. It tells us we are worthless, the bills will just keep piling up; there will never be a way to pay for school; you will never be able to become what you really want to be.

Why?

We rely on fear. It's like a safe haven we have trenched ourselves in, because it's easier to hide behind fear than to face the reality of the boulders, fires, and fallen trees. It's easier to turn around instead of trekking through the snow piles of the avalanche life left before us.

It's easy to blame fear.

It's easy to give up.

It's easy to look the other way and pretend that we aren't supposed to be going forward. Because after all, if you turn all the way around, you will be going forward in your own mind.

But then after you do such a thing, is it easy to look up at the stars at night and tell yourself and God that you really are doing your best? It is so much easier to give up and go the easy route than it is to just pull on your metaphorical hiking boots and start the adventure.

What would you do if you weren't afraid? Would you change the world? Would you make a bigger and better difference for Christ and yourself? Would you try harder for those around you if you just knew how much of an influence you could be someday?

What would you do if you weren't afraid?