“Hey, when you ain’t got a choice, you might be surprised at what you can do.” This is what Rodney said to me one evening in the parking lot of an Autozone. I had recently met Rodney, a scrufty fellow who had maybe three full outfits to his name, no regular employment to speak of and a family that depended upon their minivan as their sole means of transportation. I had just bought him a set of brake pads for that minivan and was marveling at his ability to repair his own vehicle.
That was the day I learned just how inexpensive brake pads are and I mentioned that to him. He laughed and told me about how mechanics make a killing on brake repairs. “Still,” I insisted. “IÂ don’t trust myself to work on something as important as automobile brakes.
That’s when he put me in my place.
We Have AÂ Choice – But Do We Know It?
I thought I was giving Rodney help that day. He’d sought my assistance for other reasons before then, but it was clear that his main concern was the minivan. I bought him the brake pads and put a little bit of fuel in the tank. That would be exactly what he felt he needed to get his life rolling in the right direction again.
As it turns out, Rodney was helping me to alter the course of my own life.
Sooner Or Later… Make The Choice For No More Fear
As I stood there, mired in the simple depth of Rodeny’s rhetoric, I wanted to smack myself. I have spent most of my life being afraid of things. As a young child, I was mostly the opposite, throwing caution to the wind and earning a reputation of being a daredevil of sorts. Somewhere along the line, I changed my stripes and grew fearful of people, things, events and more.
Rodney pointed it out to me that day. I had convinced myself that I was a terrible mechanic and that I had no business in even trying to do my own repairs. The truth of the matter is, I was afraid and cowardly. What is most disheartening is the fact that I allowed myself to be content in being afraid. I had accepted it as status quo and saw no reason to change.
We Get a Choice In How We Respond
Your choice in how to react to, respond to and handle your fears might deprive you of the adventure god has planned for you – Choose to face it. The road ahead might just surprise you.
Most of us are very familiar with the “fight or flight” means of responding to fear. In simple summary, we people react to the presentation of fear by either standing our ground and fighting it out or tucking our tails and running away. The third “F” response that is less talked about is a potentially horrifying response. Freeze.
I used to be a fighter, but somehow lost confidence in myself, leading me to freeze when facing fear. I often would describe fearsome situations and environments as walking through a mine field (where I might step on a land mine if I moved) that is surrounded by snipers (where I might be shot if I didn’t move). That’s a pretty dark analogy and if you are feeling that way, I am sure there is desperation flowing through every fiber of your soul.
Freezing is so crippling because you can’t help but feel like you have given up all hope of being able to make the right move, so you stand still and hope the landmines disappear or the snipers walk away. It’s sort of like being in class and looking at the floor while hoping the teach calls on someone else because you have no idea how to answer the question that has just been asked.
Make The Choice To Forfeit Your Fear
Perhaps there is a fourth “F” when prompted with fears. we don’t have to be fighters. We don’t have to fly away. And we certainly don’t need to freeze up. We can forfeit our fears by giving them over to the hand of God.
Cast your burden on the Lord,
    and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
    the righteous to be moved.But you, O God, will cast them down
    into the pit of destruction;
men of blood and treachery
    shall not live out half their days.
But I will trust in you.– Psalm 55:22-23
When we are being strong in our faith in God, we are giving our fears to him. He in turn gives us strength, discernment, and equips us for facing fear.
When God gives you fear, that’s a good thing. It’s a God thing. See it for what it is. Don’t flee from it. Don’t fight against it. Instead, forfeit it over to him and face it with the assurance that he will sustain you and that a new adventure awaits you.
Make the choice.
Choose to live the life God intends for you.
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