fear.

my friend kelly and i went to see joyce meyer last night at the RBC center in raleigh.

matt redman led worship and i was awestruck with just how big God is.

to see the thousands of people with their arms raised high in praise made my heart soar.

all these people on fire for Him.

joyce spoke on fear, and my eyes were opened to just how silly fear is.

fear is always going to present itself.

always.

but the more we give into it, and allow it to seep into our thoughts,

the more we are crippled by it.

a great acronym she used was:

False Evidence Appearing Real

how true!

she touched on 7 fears:

1. fear of trouble, trials and tribulation.

guess what? there's absolutely no need to fear them, because they're going to happen!

you can't fear something that is going to happen.

period.

it will just make the pain that much worse, and it will eat you up inside.

john 16:33 confirms that you will, in fact have troubles!

it states, "i have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.

in this world, you may have trouble, but take heart! i have overcome the world."

you may feel afraid, but you don't have to be afraid.

he wants us to learn how to do hard things with him, not have to avoid everything that will be hard.

2. fear that we won't get what we want.

if you love God with your whole heart, and you trust him,

you will be happy regardless of getting what you want.

he doesn't give us what we want all of the time, but he does give us what he wants for us.

and it will always work out for our own good.

3. fear of imperfection

ouch. this one was for me.

get over this one.

you're not perfect, you won't be perfect.

perfect is still coming back, and He's not here yet!

if we never failed or made mistakes, then we wouldn't need Jesus.

4. i'm not doing enough

you might fear that you aren't doing enough, because you will never do enough.

Jesus is enough.

stop comparing yourself to other people, everyone is anointed differently.

i am imperfect, so i need the perfect One working through me.

5. fear of being taken advantage of

God is your vindicator and he will deal with those who misuse you.

love hurts.

but it's the only thing that works.

you've got to love.

you're going to get hurt.

and you will hurt others.

but he will make all things new.

6. fear of involvement

being involved with people is often messy and can disappoint you.

but do it anyway.

relinquish your control and allow others to help you.

just because you can do something, doesn't mean you're supposed to still be doing it.

there are seasons in our life.

everyone isn't always going to do everything like you.

but you can either act crazy, or get over it and let them help you.

exodus 18:18, "you will surely wear yourself out and the people with you."

7. fear of man

you don't have to be afraid that people won't like you.

statistics show that at least 10% of the people you meet, won't.

galatians 1:10 says, "am i now trying to win the approval of men, or of God?

or am i trying to please men? if i were still trying to please men,

i would not be a servant of Christ."

don't you dare miss O N E thing that God has in store for you because of fear.