What do you fear most in life ill health
some financial loss loss of a loved one
what do you fear most is it death
or maybe failure in some particular area of your life we probably all have areas
that we have to deal with probably after find ourselves talking to God about them several
times many times sometimes whatever it might be it may be every day but what are you afraid of
what really haunts you well if you have courage you can handle anything that haunts
you many people fear many different things and oftentimes they have right cause but God wants
you and me to live with courage not fear you know what what it's called when you're scared to death
to do something and you do it anyway that's called courage if you're not afraid you're not courageous
only people who are afraid are courageous if you're not afraid you're not you don't
need any courage courage is not the absence of fear courage is doing the right thing in spite
of your fear that's what makes a courageous woman that's what makes a courageous man you
do the thing you fear in spite of the fear and that's called courage if you've let fear hinder
you if you've let fear rule you if fear is keeping you from doing what you really believe that you
should be doing in life then the only way that you're ever going to conquer and overcome that
fear is if you face it courageously you know just like faith is greater than fear courage is greater
than fear if there's a fear in your life and you really want to overcome it then are you ready to
start taking bold courageous steps don't let fear rule you don't let it imprison you and
don't let it keep you from being the amazingly wonderful powerful person that God wants you
to do learn how to confront fear with courage be encouraged today take courage the bible says you
know I believe that God is holding out courage to you today and all you have to do is reach out
in faith and say that's it I will not fear I'm not going to live in fear anymore I'm going to
learn all I can about courage and I'm going to go forward and be the person that God wants me
to be if you're going to be what God has called you to be you're going to need this if you're
going to do what God has called you to do you're going to need this and that is the area of courage
being courageous for God why do I need it Jesus says in John 16:33 in this world you will have
trouble we need courage because you and I will face challenges and giants that are bigger than us
the challenges and levels of difficulty that we will face in this life with our
families with our health with our finances societal struggles relationships all these
things that we will face will attempt to bully us into a corner to push us to
run and keep on running and what you will need in those instances is not a good talk
what you will need is to be courageous in the Lord so that you will overcome in the name of the Lord
and in the power of His might this is why you need courage but another reason why you need courage
is because often times when God is calling you to it many times God calls us to purposeful
exploits and those callings are often packaged in difficulty
I know we wish that God will just call us then it'll be a road of ease but God doesn't
call us to ease he calls us to destiny and oftentimes those destiny moments is packaged
in difficulty it's packaged in what looks like a giant you remember when God called
um David the first thing David had to do was face a giant he was outsized out skilled outmatched but
David said I come to you in the name of the Lord and he defeated a giant and chopped off his head
you remember when he calls Peter he calls Peter what to walk on water you can't do that on your
own but he called him and bid him and so Peter did he will call us to do things that on our
own seems impossible and we will need courage even when the odds are against us even when
the odds are against us with the help of God we can overcome anything when our courage is
in God he enables us to overcome anything courage doesn't mean you don't get afraid
courage means you don't let fear stop you the pathway to your greatest potential is often
straight through your greatest fear let me say it again this is going to hit somebody the pathway to
your greatest potential is often straight through your greatest fear there may be someone here it's
time to take a step of faith one step forward you're afraid you have the courage just to step
out the courage to say God I don't know what's going to happen I'm going to obey you the courage
to start a ministry the courage to start a campus the courage to start a new product line in your
business to to write a book to start the blog to to mentor somebody whatever it is oftentimes it's
that step through that which you're afraid of the courage to press through that will open the
door to exactly where God wants you to be have the courage to take one step forward have the courage
to feel the fear and do some something anyway courage is not that fear goes away it's that
you step through the fear fear will never ever ever completely go away in our lives but just
now listen I'm going to say just because you feel fear that doesn't mean that you have to be afraid
fear is not from God it's sent out from the enemy to keep us from going forward
I believe that the enemy has many of the of us wrapped in fear fear is a spirit
it comes to paralyze you it comes to bind you it comes to restrict you from operating the way God
created you when you're feeling that fear that anxiety can I tell you that is not the spirit
of God in the spirit of God there is liberty there is freedom God says that I have not given you the
spirit of fear but of what love power and a sound mind but when the enemy wants to restrict God's
people he he puts us in a pythonic hold to squeeze out every ounce of courage every ounce of faith on
the inside of us it's the python coils that he wraps around you and I's life but by the power and the
authority of Jesus Christ we bind the spirit of fear from over your life we bind the spirit
of fear from in this atmosphere we loose God's confidence in the mighty name of Jesus he says
that we can have the mind of Christ so we do not not have to operate in fear and oftentimes what
God is calling you to do is going to be packaged in difficulty and you're going to need courage
to step into what God is going on the other side of your fear is your greatest destiny on the other
side of your fear is your purpose waiting on you sitting there with legs crossed waiting for you to
get there but we have to operate in courage the space between you and the life God imagines for
you the space between you and the life God wants you to live the space between you and the life
God created you to live the space between you and the life you long for is filled with fear
and that if you live your life navigating away from your fear you will never get to
the place you you long for it you'll never get to the life you imagine you'll never get
to life you hope for because no matter what you dream of I don't even need to know your dream
see if you have a dream of a different life if you have a dream of a different you if you ever dream
of a different future I know that what fills the space between you and that dream is fear
and you have to figure out how not to go around that fear you have to figure out how
to navigate through that fear and so if you're a follower of Jesus and you are a person who's
informed by the scriptures you need to know that courage is a command not a recommendation
courage is not secondary it is essential see some of you are are doing a job you
hate because you don't have the courage to go find the job you'd love because fear is actually
holding you back because you feel inadequate to actually receive the career you long for
you know one of the huge lies in my own life was that I didn't deserve that
right you know why would you get that have you ever had a dream or an ambition a longing in
your life but there's a little voice inside that just telling you why you why should you have that
why why should you have someone who loves you unconditionally why should you have that career
that's so fulfilling that it actually becomes an expression of your passions
why should you have that that accomplishment that that everyone else thinks you're incapable
of but you just keep knowing inside of you that this is something you should try
everything inside of you that God has placed in you is going to send you right into the
ocean of fear see I think sometimes when we're followers of Jesus we go what's God's will for
my life and we think that God's will will move us around fear right wouldn't that be great
wouldn't you because you go oh I know what I'm supposed to do because there's no fear there
here's one way I can help you a lot of people what do I do I
don't know what God's will for my life is if it doesn't make you afraid it's not your calling
if you're not afraid to lose your job you're not passionate enough about that job and a lot
of times we don't realize is that the things that we love most in life they actually become
the environment for the most fear but there's this beautiful relationship in the scriptures
because even though there's voices inside of people say you're not good enough you're
not strong enough you're not smart enough you're not talented enough I am not enough
because see fear is always sourced from the core it's always sourced
within us it's not the fear of failure it's not the fear of death it's not the
fear of of getting sick it's not the fear of losing a job it's not the fear of losing
the relationship it's a fear that you're not enough and so you run and you hide
God has put gifts and talents in you he's given you dreams and goals that are unique to your life
you have something to offer that nobody else has but it's easy to let fear hold us back fear of
failure fear of what people will think fear of the unknown what if I try and it doesn't happen
what if I don't have the talent what if people don't accept me too often we're letting the what
ifs talk us out of it many people are living with hidden dreams hidden talent hidden potential they
have books in them songs businesses leadership skills but they're discounting themselves
thinking they're not as talented as their friend they've had too many setbacks they tried in the
past and it didn't work out my message today is very simple quit hiding what God has given you
the scripture says you don't light a candle and hide it under a bush when God breathed his life
into you he lit your candle he created you to shine to make a difference to leave you a mark
and your gift is not just for you it's to share with the world we need your talent we need your
creativity we need your smile now don't let fear talk you out of it you can't play it safe your
whole life and become who you were created to be you'll be tempted to shrink back play it safe hide
your gift but if you'll take that step of faith God will step in and help you do what you couldn't
do but here's the key you can't wait till the fear goes away and then you'll do it when I get
my courage up then I'll teach that class then I'll start my business then I'll go out on that date
the fear may not go away you're going to have to do it in spite of the fear this is what faith is
all about I feel afraid but fear is not going to control my life I'm going to take a step of faith
no one that's ever done anything great in life has done it without fear they felt the fear but
they did it afraid when you're close to releasing your gift you will feel fear more than ever that's
the enemy trying to deceive you into keeping your gift hidden he doesn't want you to shine
he doesn't want you to go where no one in your family has gone he'll work overtime to try to
convince you to shrink back play it safe that's when you're going to have to have this boldness
this confidence that you're going to do it in spite of the fear it is God is in God we find
our strength it's in God we find our courage we don't have the courage the strength to face
some of the things that we will face in life we don't have the strength to part Red Seas
we don't have the strength to go against Goliaths of life we don't have the strength
to walk on water on our own we don't and it's okay because God does and he dwells
on the inside of us and will give us the strength and the courage to go through what he calls us to
God will give you strength for today for tomorrow he has courage stored up in a warehouse he has
grace stored in a warehouse and as you need it he supplies it our courage and our strength and our
own has its limits but God's is limitless there are some things that you will face in life where
you feel outmatched for but it's okay because when God is the basis of our courage we can step
aside and see the salvation of the Lord and when God is on your side there's no demon in hell
that can stop you from doing what God has called you to do it doesn't matter how great
the opposition is it doesn't matter how fierce the opposition is compare it to God who says the
nations are like a drop in a bucket to him he weighs the islands on a scale like sand when you
understand that God you can look at your storm and say this far and no further so we have a choice of
facing the difficulties we face in life in one of two ways we can do it courageously or we can
do it fearfully and God doesn't want his people living fearfully he says I have not given you the
spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind God wants us to be triumphant he
wants us to be courageous and bold whatever we face in life and he's made promises to make it
possible for us to face anything and everything and still be standing when the battle is over