What are you afraid of?

What is courage?

A wise person once said "Courage isn't courage, until it's tested...and succeeds."

We all wonder--and doubt--what we are made of, until we can see those challenges in the rear view mirror.

As emotionally-wired creatures, we women are unfortunately prone to be motivated through every situation by one of two mind sets---either fear or courage. What are you afraid of?

I am sure it's safe to say the number one underlying fear, beneath every pang of guilt, every flush of embarrassment, and every hesitancy to speak up or step out, is fear of rejection or abandonment. This is, however, one thing we should never fear.

Psalm 139 ...

I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. (Psalms 139:7-10 NLT)

When we hear the word, we think of firefighters, police officers and soldiers...women like Esther, Joan of Ark, Rosa Parks... and ;) Katniss, of course...These women have a common factor, and it's not fearlessness. Had they not been challenged with tremendous adversity, we would never had heard of them. They had troubles (big-time), fears, and issues, just like we do. They aren't heroes because they were immune to them--they are heroes because they overcame them.

Comments

Guardrails

Thank From the winding ascent of Black Snake Road through the mountains of Arkansas to the many breathtaking overlook points in the Rockies in Colorado, you’ll find miles and miles of guardrails. Like sentries marching alongside the road, they stand as barriers between the safe and level asphalt and a sometimes cavernous drop into the depths below. We don’t question guardrails on roads like that. N fact, when we see a potentially treacherous road without them, we wonder why they aren’t there. Yet we have a desire to careen carelessly through life, without boundaries or barriers — without commandments. This is a hard thing to convey — that the God whose mercies are new every morning and whose love stretches to the skies also has rules. But like little children, we stretch out our little hand and touch what he’s already told us “no—that’s hot,” and then we are angry with Him because we got burned. It’s not from tyranny that He says “don’t” or puts up guardrai...

NEMESIS, TRAPS AND DIGRESSIONS, OH MY!

Let's begin at the beginning. You have challenges. You have issues. You have enemies. All of the above would be true for any of us -- from slacker to slave, from victim to hero -- but there is actually one very small but highly distinguishing characteristic: perspective. Yes, the thing that makes mountains out of molehills--and vice versa--is undoubtedly the key to success or failure, and the common thread through the story of every hero. Something interesting about perspective: it can be found, lost, and regained -- although sometimes elusive, it's always attainable. Through the next week, we will explore the various things responsible for our lost perspective, and talk about how to get it back. I was about to say that there are three things that generally rob us of our proper perspective, but that would imply that it can be taken from us, by force. The fact is, unfortunately, we sometimes "lose" our perspective as easily as we misplace our keys, cell phone, ...

Ever After

This weekend, we re-watched “Ever After,” a historical fiction drama based on the fairy tale of Cinderella. As a most beloved daughter reduced to a despised servant in her own manor house when her father died, the girl endured heartbreak and hardship for many years...until...! Long story short, when she stood next to the throne with the royal family, the newly crowned princess and future queen, she was in a completely new position in the presence of her angry stepmother. She was no longer under the wicked woman’s control, to order around and abuse. No longer subject to her unkind words or doubled labor. No longer her slave. She has nothing to fear or dread from the woman who had held her captive in the cruelest way her whole young life, because now she wore a crown. Imagine your life with the same kind of triumph. Freed from the voice that condemns you and tells you you’ll never be good enough. Free from the ever-increasing burden of plodding through your days with the weight of t...

Thriving...in Spite of It

Search This Blog