{"id":1316,"date":"2012-11-23T09:16:17","date_gmt":"2012-11-23T16:16:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billintheblank\/?p=1316"},"modified":"2012-11-23T09:16:17","modified_gmt":"2012-11-23T16:16:17","slug":"how-to-stop-being-afraid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2012\/11\/how-to-stop-being-afraid\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Stop Being Afraid"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

For my Patheos friends, this post kicks off a series\u00a0over the next few weeks as we unpack the following steps from Psalm 46 in more detail to discover God\u2019s wisdom on how to\u00a0stop being afraid.\u00a0 Enjoy!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Smack dab in the middle between real life and real faith is \u2014 real fear.\u00a0 Fear of failure. Fear that we\u2019ll look foolish. Fear that everyone will laugh when we do. Fear that __________ \u2014 fill in the blank with your own fear. There\u2019s no shortage of them<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I believe that for those who have trusted in Christ as their only hope, God has not left us to be paralyzed by the unknown. Instead, His Word gives us 7 steps for overcoming fear and rising victoriously above the challenges that come our way.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to say it will be easy.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

They\u2019re not simple steps, although they sure do beat the alternative of being imprisoned by fear. Maybe you\u2019re feeling that vise now as it tightens its grip on your soul. Maybe you\u2019ve been getting advice that sounds good, but some of it is leaving you with the uneasy feeling that you\u2019re missing God\u2019s wisdom in it all. God\u2019s solutions to life\u2019s struggles tend to require great faith because they are often counterintuitive.<\/p>\n

Our family has had to continue to learn a thing or two about walking by faith and facing our fears over the last many months as God called us to step away from our security and step toward our destiny<\/a>. Most recently, He called us to take a further step that had me literally forcing my hand open, palm up, telling God how much it scared me to let go. I\u2019m still fighting to keep that hand open and step forward as I choose not to fear.<\/p>\n

Psalm 46 reveals divine wisdom, 7 steps to overcoming fear. Over the next few weeks, I\u2019ll unpack each step in more detail \u2014 they\u2019re each rich with comfort, courage, and hope \u2014 but for now, here\u2019s some counterintuitive wisdom from the psalmist to press forward with confidence.<\/p>\n

7 Steps to Overcoming Fear<\/h4>\n
    \n
  1. Remember who God is.<\/strong> The psalm begins with the vital reminder that God \u201cis our refuge and our strength,\u201d both our defense and our offense. Even better, it says that He is a \u201cvery present help\u201d in our trouble. The words literally mean that God is abundantly ready<\/em> to aid us when fear strikes \u2014 if only we will let Him. That, quite frankly, is the hard part.<\/li>\n
  2. Remember who we are.<\/strong> When we pause to ponder God as our fortress, we\u2019re quickly reminded of a simple fact \u2014 we often need a fortress. We get freaked out by the storms of life when \u201cmountains are cast into the sea\u201d or the \u201cwaters roar and foam.\u201d And who wouldn\u2019t? Oh, that\u2019s right. God.<\/li>\n
  3. Trust in His grace.<\/strong> In the midst of life\u2019s chaos, \u201cthere is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God.\u201d As God\u2019s dwelling places, we must trust \u2014 by faith \u2014 that we will \u201cnot be moved.\u201d On a practical note, it is much easier to trust when we have not cut ourselves off from the means God uses to get the grace to us.<\/li>\n
  4. Know that he will answer.<\/strong> Once we are trusting in Him, we can then position ourselves to wait for Him to act. When God does it, there will be no mistaking it \u2014 bows are broken, spears cracked in half, and chariots burned. In other words, shows over; everybody go home. But remember, God likes to move \u201cjust at the break of dawn.\u201d He is, after all, the God of the eleventh hour.<\/li>\n
  5. Be still.<\/strong> The hardest part to overcoming fear is doing nothing. Yet that is precisely what God calls us to do so that he can get maximum glory for His efforts. There will be stuff to do, to be sure, but it will be God who does it. Waiting on Him will require more faith than you ever dreamed possible. But it is the only path to overcoming fear.<\/li>\n
  6. Watch Him work.<\/strong> \u201cKnow that He is God.\u201d The Hebrew word used here translated know<\/em> carries the connotation of knowing by observing. In other words, when we position ourselves before Him and wait for Him to move, we get taken to school by the Almighty I Am. We learn more about how mind-blowing He is \u2014 but we learn it in a way we could never have understood if we hadn\u2019t waited for Him to move on our behalf.<\/li>\n
  7. Worship Him!<\/strong> \u201cThe Lord of Hosts is with is! The God of Jacob is our refuge.\u201d It\u2019s important to note that the psalmist\u2019s first chorus of praise comes before<\/em> God\u2019s rescue arrives. The second chorus comes after. We show our faith when we worship Him as if<\/em> He has already delivered us from the fear we are facing \u2014 because we know with such certainty that He will. Faith is acting based on what you believe to be true and not on what you might see around you.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    If you know someone struggling with fear, you might want to share this link with them so they can follow along over the next few weeks for more detailed help in overcoming fear. I know I need it. I can\u2019t be the only one.<\/p>\n

    Next<\/strong> ~\u00a0Overcoming Fear: It All Starts with God<\/a><\/p>\n

    Have you ever seen God do something amazing when you were content to be still and wait for Him to move? Do you know someone\u00a0wrestling with fear? Share this post and\/or share a comment to help us all live with abundant faith.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    For my Patheos friends, this post kicks off a series\u00a0over the next few weeks as we unpack the following steps from Psalm 46 in more detail to discover God\u2019s wisdom on how to\u00a0stop being afraid.\u00a0 Enjoy! Smack dab in the middle between real life and real faith is \u2014 real fear.\u00a0 Fear of failure. Fear […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1084,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[16,18,19,267,86,87,51],"class_list":["post-1316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian-living","tag-bible","tag-christian-living-2","tag-devotional","tag-faith","tag-fear","tag-how-to-stop-being-afraid","tag-thinking"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Stop Being Afraid<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For my Patheos friends, this post kicks off a series\u00a0over the next few weeks as we unpack the following steps from Psalm 46 in more detail to discover\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2012\/11\/how-to-stop-being-afraid\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Stop Being Afraid\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For my Patheos friends, this post kicks off a series\u00a0over the next few weeks as we unpack the following steps from Psalm 46 in more detail to discover\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2012\/11\/how-to-stop-being-afraid\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FaithWalkers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-11-23T16:16:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/billintheblank.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/nepal__island_peak__009__climbing_the_sumnmit_headwall.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bill Blankschaen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bill Blankschaen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2012\/11\/how-to-stop-being-afraid\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2012\/11\/how-to-stop-being-afraid\/\",\"name\":\"How to Stop Being Afraid\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-11-23T16:16:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-11-23T16:16:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/#\/schema\/person\/5560c0a98f542f838152bf4905b03dcb\"},\"description\":\"For my Patheos friends, this post kicks off a series\u00a0over the next few weeks as we unpack the following steps from Psalm 46 in more detail to discover\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2012\/11\/how-to-stop-being-afraid\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2012\/11\/how-to-stop-being-afraid\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2012\/11\/how-to-stop-being-afraid\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Stop Being Afraid\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/\",\"name\":\"FaithWalkers\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/#\/schema\/person\/5560c0a98f542f838152bf4905b03dcb\",\"name\":\"Bill Blankschaen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50dd3b6d344807f779ec98d51630f161?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50dd3b6d344807f779ec98d51630f161?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Bill Blankschaen\"},\"description\":\"Bill Blankschaen is a writer, author, and speaker who empowers people to live an authentic life with abundant faith. A former pastor, Christian school leader, and master teacher, he is the founder of FaithWalkers (Faithwalkers.com) where he equips Christians to live an authentic life and a blogger on faith and cultural issues at Patheos and TheResurgent.com. He is the author of several books including A Story Worth Telling: Your Field Guide to Living an Authentic Life, What God Wants You to Do Next, The Secret to Explosive Personal Growth, and multiple collaborative books including his latest with co-author Erick Erickson \u2014 You Will Be Made to Care: The War on Faith, Family, and Your Freedom to Believe (Regnery, February 22, 2016). In addition to his own writing and speaking, Bill helps other people and organizations tell their own story in effective ways. He comes alongside authors as a collaborative writer, handcrafts engaging materials as a content creator, and creates an effective brand strategy as a platform developer with his team of creatives and digital technicians. (BillintheBlank.com)\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/FaithWalkersBlog.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/author\/billblankschaen\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Stop Being Afraid","description":"For my Patheos friends, this post kicks off a series\u00a0over the next few weeks as we unpack the following steps from Psalm 46 in more detail to discover","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2012\/11\/how-to-stop-being-afraid\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Stop Being Afraid","og_description":"For my Patheos friends, this post kicks off a series\u00a0over the next few weeks as we unpack the following steps from Psalm 46 in more detail to discover","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2012\/11\/how-to-stop-being-afraid\/","og_site_name":"FaithWalkers","article_published_time":"2012-11-23T16:16:17+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/billintheblank.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/nepal__island_peak__009__climbing_the_sumnmit_headwall.jpg"}],"author":"Bill Blankschaen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bill Blankschaen","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2012\/11\/how-to-stop-being-afraid\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2012\/11\/how-to-stop-being-afraid\/","name":"How to Stop Being Afraid","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-11-23T16:16:17+00:00","dateModified":"2012-11-23T16:16:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/#\/schema\/person\/5560c0a98f542f838152bf4905b03dcb"},"description":"For my Patheos friends, this post kicks off a series\u00a0over the next few weeks as we unpack the following steps from Psalm 46 in more detail to discover","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2012\/11\/how-to-stop-being-afraid\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2012\/11\/how-to-stop-being-afraid\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2012\/11\/how-to-stop-being-afraid\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Stop Being Afraid"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/","name":"FaithWalkers","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/#\/schema\/person\/5560c0a98f542f838152bf4905b03dcb","name":"Bill Blankschaen","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50dd3b6d344807f779ec98d51630f161?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50dd3b6d344807f779ec98d51630f161?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Bill Blankschaen"},"description":"Bill Blankschaen is a writer, author, and speaker who empowers people to live an authentic life with abundant faith. A former pastor, Christian school leader, and master teacher, he is the founder of FaithWalkers (Faithwalkers.com) where he equips Christians to live an authentic life and a blogger on faith and cultural issues at Patheos and TheResurgent.com. He is the author of several books including A Story Worth Telling: Your Field Guide to Living an Authentic Life, What God Wants You to Do Next, The Secret to Explosive Personal Growth, and multiple collaborative books including his latest with co-author Erick Erickson \u2014 You Will Be Made to Care: The War on Faith, Family, and Your Freedom to Believe (Regnery, February 22, 2016). In addition to his own writing and speaking, Bill helps other people and organizations tell their own story in effective ways. He comes alongside authors as a collaborative writer, handcrafts engaging materials as a content creator, and creates an effective brand strategy as a platform developer with his team of creatives and digital technicians. (BillintheBlank.com)","sameAs":["http:\/\/FaithWalkersBlog.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/author\/billblankschaen\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1084"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1316\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}