“Don’t let your fears stand in the way of your dreams.”
Does that statement speak to you? It sure spoke to me the first time I read it. I had always been by nature a very quiet and reserved person. But until then I had also been bound by fear and intimidation, and I hated it.
There was so much in me that wanted to come out, but I felt tied down inside. I was like a runner who longed to run but couldn’t because heavy chains and weights hung on her ankles, holding her back.
For years, I cried out, “Lord, I want to be totally sold out to You. I want to be so consumed with You that my fear is completely annihilated.”
Eventually, God answered my prayer, granting me the grace to walk in places where I had never walked before.
No More Fear
Once God delivered me, it was as though He had attached jumper cables to my spiritual battery.
The life and energy of the blood of Jesus flooded my being and set me free. The fear of man was gone—that anxious dread and concern about what other people would think or say about me.
Now I could enter into a fuller dimension of the fear of the Lord.
God wants you to be free, not just for the sake of freedom, but so you can truly commune with Him face-to-face. He wants to take you to a place where you can walk with Him, full of the fear of the Lord, where the fear of man is completely gone.
He wants to deliver you from intimidation and its companion spirits of comparison, shame, guilt and the fear of man.
He wants you to be able to fulfill your destiny, to complete your calling in Him, to do those things that you are uniquely qualified and designed to accomplish.
You Can Be Fearless and Free!
Do you find it easier to believe that God will do something for someone else than to believe that He will do something for you? Do you find it difficult to accept the possibility that God could really use you, that He can take you out of your shell and remove all fear from your heart?
God does not have favorites, and if He did it for me, He will do it for you!
When you deal with fear and intimidation, you will find that God will bring circumstances across your path that may intimidate you or make you fearful, when actually God just wants to use you.
You must get out of your comfort zone and open your heart and mouth for His sake.
As God uses you to draw people to Himself through divine appointments, people will begin looking at you and talking with you. You have to learn not to be fearful when that happens. Instead, you can recognize the hand of God moving in that other person’s life and the part you are to play in what He is doing.
It is when you get out of yourself that you become truly free.
Learning to be free is a lifelong process; but in Christ, you have everything you need, and it is never too late to begin.
Don’t let your fears stand in the way of your dreams.
“There is no fear in love. But perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18a). {eoa}
This article was adapted from Chapter 1 of the A Call to Courage book by James and Michal Ann Goll.
Joyce Meyer 
Stephen Strang 
Charisma Media Staff 
