It said, "Courage is the mastery of fear, not the absence of fear."
This is so true. When I started out as a Christian I started sharing with people what God had done for me and I got ridiculed and scoffed at, by only a few people and it caused me to quit sharing. Fear set in. I kept thinking, "What will people say?" or "What will people do?"
It took me a while to come to grips with that fear. The Lord led me to start claiming that His love was shed abroad in my heart every day and that His love was perfecting me and casting out all fear (ref. Rom 5:5, 1John 4: 18)
When the Lord led me into street preaching and prophetic evangelism I really had to start fighting fear. The Lord gave me 2 Tim. 1:7, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of Love, power and a sound mind." and Proverbs 28:1 "The righteous are as bold as a lion."
I found it much easier to start giving out tracts first. One person at a time. Living Waters tracts, especially the million dollar bill, were easy to give out. I would just say something like, "Have you ever seen a million dollar bill? And they would say, "No." Then I would hand it to them with many smiles and tell them it was a novelty gift. If I felt led by God I would tell them about the million dollar message on the back.
Street preaching brought a whole new level of fear. The first time I did it I got onto my step stool and my mind went blank, so I started singing, "Amazing Grace." That really helped. Then everything came back to me.
As I grew in Love it became easier and easier to jump outside my comfort zone.
When people first yelled at me I didn't know what to do. I asked the Lord what to say, and this wisdom dawned on me and I spoke exactly what I heard and they shut up, just like that.
I learned that it's far better to get an angry response than no response at all. Apathy is horrible. We want people moved out of complacency.
Fear will stop you if it can. As soon as I realized that it's better for me to do the right thing, afraid than to stay comfortable and not make an impact, that first step towards a stranger or the step to get onto my preaching stool became an invisible curtain I was stepping through. I would tell myself, "Move aside fear, I have work to do for the King."
We have nothing to fear except fear itself. In this country our rights are protected and free speech is allowed. Let's make a difference while we can.
I bless you with more courage to step out of your comfort zone. May you know the thrill of making a difference for Holy Spirit and hear His "Well done, daughter/son" every day.
Big hugs,
Brenda Gale Thompson
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