Why It's Ok To Admit Your Fears

   This past weekend we had our annual Autumn youth weekend away in Bangor with IMYC called “Autumn Soul”. The theme for the youth weekend was “fearless”. I knew about the theme for quite some time. I thought it was a great theme. A theme that I was sure many of the students could relate to. Though I came to the weekend as a leader and not a student, I quickly found after the first session that I could relate to the theme more than I would like to admit. I found this past weekend that at 26 years old, I needed to hear that “perfect love casts out fear” just as much as someone who is 13-18 years old. I think that when you are leading students it can be easy to feel like you have to put on a “super Christian” mask. You put on this mask that says, you don’t have fears, you always trust God and you never wrestle with anxious thoughts or worry about the future.

     The problem I find with that mask is that I spend so much time putting it on in front of teenagers that I forget to take it off. I fool myself into thinking that I don’t struggle and I don’t worry. I find that I am hard on myself when I am afraid or worrying about what comes next in my future. I begin to fool myself into thinking that I am a “super Christian” and I feel guilt when I find myself not measuring up to the standard. I was reminded this weekend though that God wants us to come to Him with our fears and our anxieties. He doesn’t want us to pretend they aren’t there and shove them away. He wants us to share them with Him and then allow Him to take them away. I was reminded later as I thought about some things that were said this past weekend that you can’t get rid of a fear or worry if you hide it away and don’t acknowledge that it’s there. It’s hard to trust God with your fears and worries, if you aren’t even talking to Him about them.

   Then, once you share your fears with Him, ask Him to remind you that because of His perfect love for you, you don’t have to give in to fear and let it control you (1 John 4:18). His perfect love that is shown in Him sending Jesus Christ to die on the cross for the sins of all people is greater than any fear or worry(1 John 4:9-10). It is because of this great love, that you and I, we don’t need to feel paralysed or trapped in fear. Instead, we can step out in confidence and move forward away from our fears and worries because God is with us(Deuteronomy 31:8), He is fighting for us (Exodus 14:14) and He will help us have courage when we lack courage.  That, my friend, is a truth that we all need to hear no matter how old we are or no matter what stage of life we may find ourselves in.

       I am so thankful that I have had the opportunity to be a part of this past youth weekend. I am thankful that God is gracious in not only using this weekend to impact the students in positive ways but also myself. I am glad that when life seems uncertain and scary, I do not need to be afraid of the unknowns as I make decisions because I know that He is with me no matter where I go and will help me through the things that I find scary or the things that cause me to be anxious.

I hope that by sharing what I learned this past weekend you can be encouraged to know that God wants you to share your fears with Him and He will help you through them and overcome them. 

Have a great week!

-Amy