Everybody's scared

I heard this song yesterday when I was out driving and it stuck with me, especially this section:

Everybody's scared to death

When they decide to take that step

Out on the water

But it'll be alright

The part that really stuck out to me was the first line: "Everybody's scared to death."  Often it seems when we're afraid we think we're the only one.  We look at other people and they seem so brave to us for the things they are willing to try.  And so we don't want to admit to our fear because for some reason our society has labeled fear as a weakness.

I remember when I was in middle school the "No Fear" shirts that everyone had to have - including me.  I had one that said "Second place is the first loser."  Our society values not being afraid, so when we feel scared we keep it bottled inside.  But the reality is that with our fear bottled inside - it often has more power.  And everyone is afraid.

I once read something that has stuck with me and it said something along the lines of "when we compare ourselves to others we have to remember that we are comparing our whole selves to someone else's image."  We only see what other people choose to show us.  So that person you think is so brave? The difference is simply that they chose to step out on the water despite their fears.

I am going to leave you with some of my favorite quotes on this topic, but one that I find myself turning to over and over again is from Donald Miller in his book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years:

The most often repeated commandment in the Bible is 'Do not fear.' It's in there over two hundred times.  That means a couple of things, if you think about it.  It means we are going to be afraid, and it means we shouldn't let fear boss us around.

So what is it you want to do but are too afraid to try?  What is God calling you to that seems to big for you to handle?  What are you most afraid of?  And are you going to let the fear control you?  Or are you going to trust in "What Faith Can Do"?

Some quotes on fear and courage

"We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face... we must do that which we think we cannot" ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.  The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear." ~ Nelson Mandela

 "Courage doesn't always roar.  Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow." ~ Mary Anne Rudmacher