Ice Water & Chicken

You’ve heard people say before, “He has ice water in his veins.”  What they are saying is that guy (or girl) is not afraid of anything, they can handle the pressure.  That sentence will not be said of me.  I can handle pressure but I am afraid of a lot.  I am more what you would call a chicken.  I have fears.  In fact I have a lot of fears.

• I have a fear of the dark.  - I typically send my wife to check out the scary noises.
• I have a fear of being scared.  -People I work with enjoy jumping out and screaming to get a reaction, that never gets old.
• I have a fear of Lego Wii. -My boys have an expectation of me beating the game.  What if I can’t?
• I have a fear of tight places.  -I am claustrophobic and yes I had to look up how to spell that word.
• I have a fear snakes.  -I don’t even like the “reptile” exhibit at the zoo.  While I am on the subject I don’t like any “reptiles” or bugs that fly, crawl, walk or live.
• I have a fear of bees.  -Although I am overcoming my fear by eating all their honey.  It’s my way of “sticking” it to them.

Then I have some more serious fears.  Fears that keep me up at night.  Fears that in some cases keep me from fully trusting on God and depending upon Him.  Fears that keep me from taking that next step.

• I fear being a bad dad. An absent father that gets caught up in putting the church first.  I fear them growing up with a resentment towards God or rebellious towards life to “stick” it to me.
• I fear being a bad husband. Similar reasons to being a bad dad.  I fear not providing the emotional support that my wife needs because I’m drained from offering it to everybody else.
• I fear being a drain on friends. Being too needy.  Dealing with junk was never meant to be alone but what if you have a lot of junk?  I fear that my friends eventually just get tired of hearing about it.
• I fear failure.  I fear that I won’t live up to my expectations or the unrealistic expectations of others.
• I fear being out of God’s will.  I fear not knowing timing.  I fear being too quick or to slow to stay in His will.
• I fear being lonely.  I fear the superficial shallow relationships that keep me from the deep meaningful ones.
• I fear letting people down. Goes along with my fear of failure and disappointing others.
• I fear not handling criticisms properly. I fear that I can’t separate me from the situation.  Take everything to personally.
• I fear failing morally. I have to work really hard at being sexually pure.  Not giving into temptation.
• I fear compromising my integrity. To get a laugh.  To get a applause.  I fear that I will compromise who God has made me to be on the alter of success.
• I fear my pride. I fear that my pride will get in the way of the Holy Spirit using me.

I have a lot of fears.  I would assume you do as well.  I also know that were told in the Bible not to have a “spirit of fear” and to be honest that is difficult.  This is a lifetime journey that I am on and don’t know if I will ever conquer my fears.  What I do know is that daily I give them to God and push through.  I continue to ask for direction and wisdom.

Waiting.

Listening.

Waiting.

Learning.

Waiting.

Dreaming.

Waiting.  Waiting.  Waiting.

What I do know is that even in my waiting I don’t remain still.  Waiting doesn’t mean to stop doing what your doing.  Waiting simply means listening for the still small voice of God to act.

What are some of your fears?  Fun or serious it doesn’t matter. Maybe you have a fear of leaving a comment because you wonder what people will think.  Today is a great day to overcome that fear.