Have You Ever Been Fearful?

The train hums as it gently wraps itself around the corner of the Naples train station. My unhurried husband and I fling our backpacks over our shoulders and proceed to the nearest exit. I clink and clank my two wheel carry-on-bag through the exit door. I lay my bulky luggage and oversized polka dotted purse along the concrete’s edge. I quarter turn back towards the train. A crisp beeping sound blares from overhead signaling the doors are about to shut.

Suddenly, my stomach flips in fear.

The doors are shutting, only I’m on the outside and my husband is still on the train. Seconds pass before I’m able to shake flusters of shock off my face. Desperation suddenly jerks my limbs into action. My trembling fingers try to pry the doors apart.

It’s too late.

Nothing works.

He’s gone.

I’m left standing alone in an unfamiliar place while onlookers shake their heads in disbelief.

In this moment God’s presence stirs with a purpose. Without spoken words, a phrase bounces off the framework of my heart…

“Push past your fear because God is near.”

God is near. Not just at home. Not just during quiet times. Not just on mission trips...But always.

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline,” (2 Timothy 1:7).

Even though God didn’t give us a spirit of fear, we all know what its sting feels like. So how do we become women who say “no” to fear and “yes” to God?

First, I think we must become women who exhibit God-confidence as opposed to self-confidence. God’s intention was never to make God girls “self-confident.” He created us to be confident in Him alone.

Secondly, we must become women who push beyond themselves so they can embrace what God has for them.

Women who don’t live their lives saturated in fear but soaked in Truth;

Women who rejoice in God’s intentional invasion of their comfort zones; and

Women who are able to shift focus away from fear and onto to God.

Oh, just think how different our lives would be if we didn’t let fear make us shy away from God’s plan. It breaks my heart thinking of all the times I blew it…all the opportunities I didn’t take. But just because I wasn’t a woman who said “yes” to God yesterday, doesn’t mean I can’t be a woman who says “yes” today.

That day on a sizzling train platform, I wiped the sweat from my eyes and decided to allow God’s Word to actually sink in. Instead of simply reciting the verse, I tried applying it for a change.

In that moment, I felt 2 Timothy 1:7 strengthen me in a new way. I tapped into God’s power and you know what happened? I became a woman with a Spirit of power, love, and self-discipline…Just the way God designed me to be.

Is fear holding you back today?