“Get to the root of your fear, underneath the chaos of anxiety. A part of me is frightened are powerful words to say as you draw near to God and live from your Spirit-led self. As with Moses, God may not take away your fear. But he will strengthen you with courage as you trust in him.”- Alison Cook and Kimberly Miller
Alison Cook and Kimberly Miller conclude Chapter 10 of Boundaries for Your Soul as they look at the final two root-fears that lie behind each anxious soul part.
2. Fear of rejection; people-pleaser parts. You develop a protective people-pleaser part when you have an exiled fear of losing others’ love. If pleasing actions stem from a fear of rejection buried deep inside, this pleasing part of you resides too close. On the other hand, when you don’t care what others think, this part of you wanders too far. Thus, signs that your soul contains a people-pleaser part include:
- not saying no when no is needed
- feeling resentful of the very people you work overtime to please
3. Fear of trusting God: doubt. Some giants of the Christian faith struggled with menacing doubts. Yet, we know them for heroic acts of faithful obedience. Most noteworthy, Christian author C. S. Lewis offers a way through the dilemma of doubt. Writing in The Screwtape Letters, Lewis states that faith expressed as obedience, even when doubt lurks, represents a powerful spiritual force. In this passage, Uncle Screwtape writes to his demon nephew Wormwood:
“Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do . . . [God’s] will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of him seems to have vanished and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.”
Therefore, the authors exhort, when your doubt transforms into courage, it becomes your “faithful companion on your lifelong journey toward obedience.”
Today’s question: What most enables you to live from your Spirit-led self? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Through eyes that have cried”