March 15, 2005
Rebuilding in Fear
In Ezra chapter 3 we read about the people of God rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem. Even though they were afraid for their safety, they built the altar on its foundation. This is cool. Brave people are not people who are absent from fear, but they are those that press on in spite of fear. Sometimes it's easy to conclude that fear is a sin. Experiencing fear is a given and expected. Feeling fear is not bad, but surrendering to it or shrinking away because of it is lame. Facing fear is noble and courageous.
I remember two anecdotes about fear. One is spiritual and one is sexual.
(not really or technically, but I wanted to get your attention... the other is about "attraction to the opposite sex," not "sexuality")
Anyway, I used to try to be sensitive to the Lord's voice when I was on campus at the University of Texas. I believe it helped train me on how to hear the voice of the Lord. Sometimes I would "hear" or have a thought in my head that was as if it was spoken. 'Tell him I love him,' or something like that. One time I heard this and the object of the message was this burly guy with "tough guy" written all over him. It was intimidating, and I feared an angry backlash as I told him God loved him, but I actually received a warm and grateful response from the guy. Shows you what I know, and how fear can keep us from relating to people that will enrich our lives.
Okay, now on to girls. In the last stages of my 'single life' (before I found my wife), I learned to "embrace fear" or "feel the fear." What I mean by that is I simply accepted the nervousness of talking to another girl. That whole "fear of rejection" and nervousness were very real emotions that could influence me to not act or run away from the opportunity to talk to a lovely lady. I determined to let the fear and nervousness come, and I simply experienced the emotions and acted in spite of them. It actually became like a "rush" or thrill to walk and talk amidst the fear. This embolded me to have fun in a context that would otherwise make me feel miserable or fail to act. I gladly shared this with some of my single male friends, and it helped us enjoy a fun part of life, rather than dread or endure it.
There: was that little bit of sex education so bad?
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at March 15, 2005 10:44 AM