“Fear came to my house years ago, I let him in. Maybe that’s the problem ’cause I’ve been dealing with this ever since. I thought that he would leave, but it’s obvious he never did. He must have picked the room and got comfortable and settled in” ~NF
My whole life I’ve been someone that takes words very seriously. Whoever said “sticks and stones can break my bones but words will never hurt me” must have had a pretty incredible run of people in their life. Because whether or not you want to admit it, words make an impact on your life. And unfortunately, that applies to the words to ourselves as well. Your words don’t just impact others but they impact you. And, what you CHOOSE to let in affects what words you use which then affect what emotion is produced. Something you should know about me is that I’ve struggled with sleeping most of my life and a lot of times to be honest it's because I’m nearly afraid to sleep. When I sleep, I dream. And when I dream, a lot times I have nightmares. Pain, fear, terror, anguish, etc. all run through my mind. People close to me, family and friends going through something, things happening to me, etc. And every single time I can see what they’re going through or what I'm going through but I can’t help and I can't do anything about it. Why? Why do I dream it if I can’t change it? Let me flip that question…Why do I SPEAK that I can’t change it? For someone that takes words so seriously I don’t take mine into consideration most of the time. I live with fear. Fear of what’s next, fear of failing, fear of the unknown, fear of sleeping, fear. But why? Who put that in me?…..ME….I let that fear settle down inside me and get comfortable. Make a space for itself and just when I thought I was safe it pounced. See, that’s what we do. We lead ourselves to believe that the things we deal with are uncontrollable. I don’t sleep because I’m an insomniac. Wrong. I don’t sleep because I don’t let myself sleep. I have fear because I chose fear over trust. And the same might apply to you. But we have to get to a place where we understand that the keys to unlock the cuffs around us have been with us the whole time. Don’t let your mind be locked up by the very thing YOU let in. Your feelings are real. Your pain, hurt, fear are all real. Everything you've gone through and will go through is very real. But, what you speak over those very real feelings and emotions is what directs your next step. From mistakes we learn. From pain we grow. From fear we learn to trust. Everything you go through in life has a purpose and it’s up to you to choose what’s next. Speak Life. Survival: The rising of the sun brings light upon the land. We Wake, we live, we survive. Life has become much less about living and so much more about surviving. Love, joy, peace, patience are all things taught out of an “old story book.”As the sun sets on “just another day” we ask, “is there more to this for me?” The darkness sets and the weary eyes close. Dreamers dream and others sleep. Another day comes and we wake with a misconceived perspective on life….Just get by. But why? I wrote that a very long time ago and I found it as I looked through old notes. It feels more relevant today than it did before. Don’t just get by. Keep asking why. And most importantly, keep dreaming. Because you’re dreaming for a reason. In these crazy uncertain times we have to be the dreamers not the ones that run from our dreams. Think about what happened yesterday. On Easter Sunday a lot of us were presented with something so crazy and unbelievable. "How can we celebrate Easter, the day the Jesus rose up out of that tomb and conquered death through the internet alone?" And what happened? The dreamers rose up and collectively as one church body created a moment in history that won't ever be forgotten. Why? Because that's our mission. To change the world, to show the love of God, and share hope no matter the circumstance.
So this week I'm going to give you a challenge. DREAM. And not just little dreams that you could accomplish on your own. Dreams so big God HAS TO BE present in them because if not, they won't work and our fear will cut them short. Speaking of that fear...take the keys back from fear and kick it out of your mind…Because Joshua 1:9 says- This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” There's not enough room for fear...because God is with you wherever you go and He's is so much bigger. Let HIM hold those keys to your mind.