“So Small” 9/244

Do you make decisions from a place of confidence or fear?

Nailed. Man, John Mason sure knows how to pick good questions. I would say that a good 50% of my decisions are based on fear. Disgusting, I know. In my last note I spoke of my fear of failure. I tend to just ignore the problems in my life because it’s easier than getting kicked in my dairy-aire (da’ rear). When something goes wrong with my car, I just pretend to ignore the “check engine soon” light and hope it goes away. When my grade goes from an A to a B to a C in half a semester, I just hunker down and pray that somehow before the final exam, I will be able to understand it instead of admitting defeat by getting help. When I play music up in front of people or give a speech or confront somebody about their sin, I tend to be on edge the whole day.

If I am truly grounded in my relationship with God, I will be able to make decisions that will honor him, for God has not given me “a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7).

Honestly, what my fear of failure has to do with is my fear of failure in front of other people. One of the greatest books on the topic besides the Bible about the fear of man is When People Are Big and God Is Small by Edward T. Welch. He put everything in perspective for me by saying that “having more fear of man than God is idolatry.” Fear of God is the cure because it not only makes situations or other people smaller, but also makes me smaller. Fear of God makes me love others more and need them less to boost up my view of myself.

Check out this awesome video by Louie Giglio on his How Great Is Our God Tour that put God back where he belongs in my mind:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2mcCvHT1wY