Don't face your fears

One very popular quote that I have always heard that seems really motivating is “You need to face your fears”. This word is used by motivational speakers in relation to situations that are very challenging and the person in question seems to be hovering with fear around making a decision. This may work as a principle for mundane life issues, however, it does not operate same way for spiritual victories. Conquering the cosmos in the spiritual is not about you but something bigger than you.

I began to look at this in relation to living a life of victory over sin. I was having a chat with a young lady over the week and as I do ask people I come across, I asked her if it is possible that we do not sin as human beings. Most of the time the answer I get is an exclamatory no; she answered same way. The beautiful thing I also came to realize is that people in this state do want to stop but the belief that we are humans keeps them down on a spot. They do all possible to have victory over habits that are not righteous but it seem so difficult that they fall again each time. They feel so bad about it and each time it happens there is a sense of guilt that comes hunting. Have you tried telling yourself you would not do a particular thing again but still find yourself doing it over and over? You have actually been facing your fears and it will lead you to your fall.

My Experience at the Beach

For the first time since my teenage years, I was opportune to go out with a couple of friends on a picnic to the beach. I just thought it was good to have fun ones a while too, isn’t it? It was a strange terrain as we approached and so it was for some of my friends too. We moved closer to the beach, the wave of the sea was very mighty. Looking at it alone was enough to throw me off guard. I decided to face my fears. I drew closer to the seashore and ran towards the roaring sea, as the water kept rolling and it approached me so close, the fear in me rose. I could not stand, I took to my heels.

I looked at my right and left, I saw kids playing where I was overwhelmed with fear. These kids were not in any way afraid and this got me thinking how they could do such without any form of fear. As a man saw the fear my friends and I exhibited, he came closer to one of us. I then asked who the man was. I was told he is from a riverine part of the country, he is an expert when it comes to navigating your way in the waters. Water is home for him. So, he educated us on how to enjoy our visit at the beach. All we needed to do was to turn our backs on the sea and spread our legs wide apart. That was it! We were not to face our fears; we surmounted it only by turning our backs on it.

Back to you

Your sincere intentions to break habits that could separate you from God does not automatically translate to deliverance. Motivational teachings would not answer to your quest of becoming totally free from a life of sin and sinfulness. The more you set boundaries on what you should do and not do, the more the chances for falling will open. You cannot break free from an addiction by facing it to finish, you will get hurt. What are you struggling with? How have you been trying to work it out?

One basic thing that happened at the beach which helped every one of us understand how to overcome our fear was “KNOWLEDGE”. The man knew what we never knew and with the knowledge we were able to make the most of our time. There is nothing strange to the man any longer as far as the sea was concerned. He knew how we were feeling because he must have been in that state of being scared before he became a veteran in the sea.

Your victory

The professional at the sea depicts a symbol of Jesus. He came to the earth to know how man suffers in the flesh. He became sin for our sake, went to the Hades and came back as the Lord of all. Now, He is the one telling you not to fight for yourself but to face Him. Facing your fears will only lead you to going deeper in your sins. Let Jesus handle the fears while you are facing Him. It is impossible to become free from that habit without getting to behold Him so your inadequacies can rest in the knowledge of His word. You can live a life devoid of sin, which is the design. All you need to do is not try facing it but turn your back on it and face Him.

How much of Him do you know? The solution is not in trying to fight the fear (habits) but a continued effort to knowing Him.

“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed  into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Cor3:18

Be Innovated

Olufemi Ibitoye