Fearless is a Choice
Key Verses:
14 “So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. 15 But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:14-15 NLT
I hope as we’ve gone through the Fearless series on Sunday mornings, and as we’ve gone through the devotional over the past three weeks that God has been speaking to you as much as He’s been speaking to me.
One of the things God has shown me throughout this process is my freedom from fear is more dependent on my choices than I previously realized. Your choices matter. It’s what Joshua said to the Israelites in Joshua chapter 24. “Choose today.” The choice is yours. Will you walk in freedom or fear? Will you choose to be fearless or to remain incapable of pursuing the purpose that God has placed inside of you. Will you choose to take every thought captive? Will you choose to live by faith rather than by sight? Will you choose to act in spite of fear because you know that greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.
As I think about my responsibility in this fearless journey, I’m reminded of Paul’s second letter to Timothy. He tells him in chapter 1 verse 6:
“This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you.” - 2 Timothy 1:6
“Fan into flames.” That is a conscious act and decision. Paul is telling young Timothy that he has a part to play in the process. Growing up in church, I was taught about God’s sovereignty, which basically means that all things are under His control. We say things like, “If it’s His will” and “He’ll make it happen.”
But I think at times we can shrug our responsibility and just keep praying and praying waiting for God to “make it happen.” Here’s the thing: He has already made it happen, but we have to choose. We have to choose faith over fear. We have to choose to take every thought captive. Peter had to choose to step out of the boat. The time is now. Are you ready to choose to be fearless?
Our Prayer
Lord, we thank you for always giving us a choice. A choice between You and the world, a choice to take thoughts captive or be a captive of thoughts, a choice between being fearless and being fearful. Today we make that choice, we play our part, and we pick up faith over our fear. We know that as we do this, You will meet us, showing us what You can do in those who fearlessly follow You. Under your name we stand, amen!