Fear, Foothold, & Flood

Let me just connect these three words for you. It's a process that begins with the smallest fear. Just an inkling of fear creeping in the recesses of your mind. That tiniest doubt sneaking into your heart. It all starts with fear.

But not just having fear. We all have fears, right? I'm not even gonna attempt to list my fears from over the years. Let's just leave it at one word. Chucky. That is the first thing I remember being truly fearful of. Weird, right? Seems rather unlikely that this fear would ever be actualized, but we're talking about the mind of 6 year old here. So of course it wasn't a rational fear. Most of my fears have never been rational. For instance, I am to this day scared of terrified of frogs. Completely irrational. Honestly cannot even tell you why I am afraid of them. So fears. We all have them.

But when fear gets a foothold, it starts out oh so minute. The fear sees the opportunity to immobilize us. To insure we are as ineffective as possible as children of God.

That fear builds and builds. Kind of like a beaver building a dam in a creek at my grandparent's farm. My grandfather hates loathes those beavers because they clog up the creek and keep the water from flowing down wherever it's supposed to go. I'd have to do some more research here to be accurate, but I know that when the water flow is cut off, it affects the whole farm. It can be disastrous and cuts off all water supply. It doesn't take a farmer or a genius to know that a cut off water supply costs lives.

So here I am {the creek} with the life-blood of Jesus {the water} flowing through me, and that one little fear {branch/log #1} creeps into my heart {the center of the creek bed}. The fear starts out so small and almost unnoticeable at first that it's hidden away unknown to everyone around me and possibly including me. It seems harmless and only hinders the flow of water {Jesus} slightly. There you have the introduction of the foothold. The opportunity for complete takeover.

That beaver keeps building a bigger, stronger dam which will stop up every bit of water running through that creek. The same goes with the fear. It has built itself into a life of its own strangling out the very voice of Jesus calling me to trust Him. There's only one way to remove that beaver dam, but we'll get back to that in a minute. 

But the foothold has now turned into an impending flood. Let's switch illustrations for a second to finish the connection of fear to foothold to flood. If you're familiar with Mississippi, I grew up north of Jackson in Grenada which is pretty much only known for gangs, drugs, and Grenada Lake. {side note: slight sarcasm} Grenada Lake is known for the Dam .... and Thunder on Water but that's beside the point. I grew up going out to the lake for church events, recreation, etc and the dam was a sight to see. I'll never forget one day seeing the water rushing over that dam with a force like I had never seen. Needless to say, you didn't want to be in its path of fury. This to me is what happens when we allow even the slightest of foothold from our fear. The dam is built and the water is being obstructed from flowing. The water builds and builds until one day the flood comes. That reservoir of fear had been just waiting in anticipation of breaking loose and taking with it all trust in God right along with the strong current.

What fear is it that I'm allowing to bring God-drought into my life? The fear plaguing me at the moment is a troublesome one. Can I trust God in this stage of my life? Like really trust Him? With everything? Through it all? Will I choose to trust Him or will I live in fear?  For the past eight, long months, the dam has been building, but I'm choosing to forgo the former flood I mentioned and choose my grandfather's dam-breaking solution. Dynamite.

Yep, you read that right. D-y-n-a-m-i-t-e. I'm done letting fear obstruct the water {Jesus} flowing through me. I'm taking it head-on and putting some dynamite to it. The question is will I continue to allow my trust to move further and further away from God, or will I stop it in its tracks and place my trust back where it belongs. Insert dynamite. My grandfather loves sticking dynamite to those beaver dams, and I think I am gonna enjoy taking dynamite to my fear as well. I want to trust. For those practical thinkers like  me out there, you may be thinking {like me} what exactly is the dynamite. It's God's Holy Word. This is my dynamite.

"I will fear no evil for you are with me" Psalm 23:4
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart" Proverbs 3:5-6
"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts" Isaiah 26:3
"But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior" Micah 7:7
"Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men" Matthew 16:23
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace" John 16:33
"Do not be anxious about anything" Philippians 4:6-9
"Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way" 2 Thes 3:18

We were not made to live in fear but in freedom.
We were not made to dwell in anxiety but in peace.

No more fear / / only trust.