Just Follow

Tonight, I am sitting at home on our first wintery Friday night of the season, enjoying my sweats, cozy slippers, and big mug of hot chocolate. Sounds of fighter planes fill the background as Steve watches an interesting program on the history channel.

Bustling about as teens so often do at night, my three nearly grown babies (surprisingly at home) are doing laundry, sharing funny stories, and baking snacks in the air fryer.  These are the home nights I dearly love. 

This week I have been mulling over a certain thought that came to mind as I was praying through some things… “No need to worry, just follow.” After studying a bit, I thought I would share some principles here that I have learned.  Bear with me as I tell a story or two. Maybe you’ll relate here and there…

Winning Over Worry

Fear of windows. The number one thing I have battled most in my life is fear. When I was a child, and even into my teens and twenties, I was afraid of the window in any bedroom I ever slept in. I imagined that this was the only way monsters or bad guys could get into my room, and they definitely would get in if I didn’t watch the window. I asked my mom if I could have a bedroom that had no windows, but bedrooms just aren’t made that way.

Fear of man. My friends and loved ones know me as a talker and a joker. I love to laugh and play, and I love to poke lighthearted fun. However, though I may seem extroverted in the middle of my comfort zone, I am a true introvert and sometimes deal internally with social anxiety. I have worked a lot of this out in my adulthood through a career in customer service, and through my involvement in many types of ministry. However, I can still get uncomfortable and clam up in certain situations.

Fear of failure. One of the fears I still battle in my life is the fear of failure. For the most part, I am able to rest in the knowledge that my success does not depend on my own strength. The Lord is God over His calling on my life. However, I know my weaknesses, I know my faults and past failures, and I am sometimes faced with the fear that I will let everyone down, let God down, and forfeit the future for which I was created.

The basis of this fear, and the power behind it, is that I have been through it before. I have experienced losing everything because of selfishness, competition, perfectionism, and selfish ambition. I remember the shame, and I remember the years of facing my demons, facing the people I had burned, and how long it took for recovery. Man, I sure don’t want to have to go through all that again.

We have a real enemy. In the face of my greatest desire, which is to accomplish all the Lord has designed for me to do, the voice of fear will always try to shut me down.

• What if I can’t get there?  What if I can’t meet the requirements? What if I get there and screw it up?  It’s happened before, it could happen again!  

This particular set of lies sounds so convincing to me sometimes, and thoughts of quitting will flood into my mind. However, although my fleshly mind might be tempted to quit, I thank God that He has removed the desire to “be a quitter” from my heart! I know that I will see every dream come to pass because, like I said before, the Lord is God over His calling on my life. All I have to do is follow Him.

Just follow.

When the fear of failure came knocking at my door yet again not too long ago, I immediately started praying and giving my situation over to the Lord.  I said, “Lord, I give every piece of this over to you. I am not able to succeed without You, so I ask for Your help. Please show me the way through this. I trust You with my life.”  

At some point during my prayer, these words came to mind and I declared them out loud…

“I will not worry, struggle, or strive… I will simply FOLLOW.  I know what is right to do, and that is what I will continue to do.  I will not look to the right or to the left, and I will not worry about the future. My times are in God’s hands.” 

And that is how peace in my life wins out over fear every single time. 

In believing, the Truth sets us free. The truth of the matter is that I will never be perfect. I don’t always do the right thing. I don’t always want to do the right thing.

If I can just be real with myself, and most importantly, REAL WITH GOD, then I am able to ask for His help with my actual issues. The Bible says that we will know the truth, and the truth will set us free.

It is socially acceptable to “whitewash” our lives and make it seem like we have no issues… no struggles… no sin. But if we bury our problems instead of confessing them, they will grow ugly vines in our lives that we ultimately will not be able to hide when we want to the most.

What is done in the dark will come out into the light. That is guaranteed.

“The Lord will accomplish that which concerns me; Your [unwavering] lovingkindness, O Lord, endures forever—Do not abandon the works of Your own hands.”

Psalm 138:8

I am one who has directly fought many battles with fear and won, but only with God’s help and the direct application of scripture as a weapon. Might sound weird, but it’s Biblical. God’s Word is a strong sword, a mighty weapon against the enemy.

I often share about the power of handwriting ten scriptures. Whatever the issue, whether it is fear, hopelessness, anxiety, finances, or something even more serious, write that thing at the top of a piece of paper, and then write down ten verses that speak directly to your situation. Do this over and over again as needed, teaching yourself to believe and claiming truth over lies for your own life and for your family. It works because the Lord has given you authority, through Christ and through His Word, over every power of the enemy.

Set faith in motion.

You are able to do everything the Lord has taught me to do. He is no respecter of persons. You are just as important to Him as I am, and I know that I am very important to God. No one gives His unconditional love, full effort and support, and the life of His own Son for someone He doesn’t care about.

A few tips for conquering fear. I will repeat these over and over in just about every subject I talk about because I believe they are master keys to freedom…

• Let it go.
  We can hold on so tightly to things that we become bound to them in unhealthy ways. Instead of trying to figure things out or make something happen in a situation, put it in God’s hands and wait to see what only He can do. Even if we have to pretend like that thing no longer exists, if we can stop interfering in God’s work, we will begin to see the truth…
  
  • God cares more than we realize
  • God already has a plan
  • God’s ways are so much better than ours
    
    
• Only believe.
  Writing ten scriptures over an area only works so powerfully when we choose to believe God’s Word over every other thought or opinion. He tells the truth and He can be trusted. We only need to believe Him at His Word.
  
  
• Stand and keep standing.
  When we are in a battle with fear, or with any other issue of life, we are able to choose what we will believe and take action based on faith. This is the authority given to us by the Lord, through Christ and through His Word. We have a real enemy, and we are in a real battle. In the face of all that tries to take us down, we have the power to say, “No, in Jesus’ name!”

On this beautiful Saturday morning, as I am finishing up this post and beginning my day, I am praying for every person who would read this message and take it to heart. I thank God for His encouragement, and for His perfect ways that bring freedom, peace, and joy! May we know Him better and better every day… may we take Him at His Word… and may we simply follow Him as He shows us how.