Your Choice

“We always have a choice between fear and faith – no matter how bleak things look.” (Rachel Olsen).

Joshua 1:9: “Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

The topic of fear versus faith comes up regularly on my blog. That’s because we are presented with many opportunities, sometimes multiple times a day – for fear or faith. I have found in my own life that it really boils down to a choice. I can either step out in faith or be overcome with fear. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like a choice – sometimes it feels like I’m being hit so hard that the only “choice” is to duck and cover or run and hide. But, ultimately, the decision I make is in my control.

And, I find that, just like the other battles I fight in my life such as self-control in the area of eating balanced or overeating, choosing to exercise or sit on the couch, or working too hard versus balancing my life between work and play, the more times I succeed, the easier it is to fight the next time.

For instance, I started fighting the battle of fear versus faith 14 years ago when I chose a job that better fit my personality and talents versus making more money and being miserable. God not only covered all our bills, but we never went hungry either. Fast forward five years, and this time I chose to leave the career I was enjoying to be a stay-at-home/working mom by providing daycare in our home. I never lacked children and God supplied enough income to meet our needs (and some wants). Fast forward three years and with God’s prompting through life circumstances, I chose to leave the semi-consistent life of day care and pursued a full-time career in medical transcriptioning, which can be a feast or famine type job.

Throughout my five years in this field, God has allowed me to stretch my fear versus faith muscles quite often. I have been let go due to loss of work only to be hired by another company eight hours later. I have lost specific accounts only to be awarded better accounts two weeks or a month later. God has proven time after time how when I choose to trust Him and put my faith not in my paycheck or my employer or my abilities, not only does He provide, but He provides exactly what I need. Sometimes my needs are to learn something new and that particularly time period proves to be quite a challenge. Other times it offers a chance to rest and rejuvenate once I have learned the lesson that God so lovingly knew I needed in order to grow.

The best part – I’m not special. What God does for me, He wants to do for you too! He is waiting for you to stretch your faith muscle so He can show you what wonderful things He has planned for your life as well. All it takes is a little forward motion on your part and as your faith grows, it will naturally get stronger. The question is – Are you ready to start the journey and if not…what’s holding you back?