31 Days of Fear{less}: Prison of Choice

When I look back over the last twenty-two years of my life, I realize very quickly that fear has always been an issue in my life. I've always been a cautious child. While there are some "good", "healthy" things to be afraid of (like strangers driving white vans with "free candy" written on the side), most of the things that I've feared were unnecessary, unhealthy fears. In essence, fear has been my prison of choice for the last twenty-two years. It wasn't a punishment I received for something I did. It was a conscious choice that I made every single day. 

I may not have gotten up each morning and said "Today, I'm going to let fear keep me in bondage." But, I might as well have walked up to the county jail each morning and asked them to put handcuffs on me and stick me in a cell. I might as well have asked them at the end of the day to let me pretty please stay just a little longer. Because, while I may not have really been physically restrained, I was still in bondage. I was still in a "prison", one that I had created for myself. One that I chose to "check in" to on a daily basis and never leave. This prison of fear was "safe" and "comfortable". It was an easy way to deal with the unknown. It was an easy coping mechanism. 

If someone continually walked up to prisons and asked to be allowed to "check in" and stay awhile, we'd probably think they were crazy. Who would want to confine themselves like that voluntarily? Why would you want to give up all of your freedoms? Why would someone want to do that? It seems silly. It seems ridiculous. It seems crazy insane. But, isn't fear the same way? We treat it like it's something "good" or at least "okay". We know that it's something that holds us back from our full potential, but we don't want to give it up. We want to keep it around for "rainy days" just in case we need it to fall back on.

What we really need to do if we truly want to live fear{less} though, is to hand it over. We need to permanently check out of our jail-hotel. We need to say "goodbye" to those chains that bind us. We need to walk away from this thing that has become some comfortable for us. We need to realize that living fear{less} means living free from the bondage of fear...something that we can't do if we're still in the prison. We need to stop choosing fear each morning when we wake up, and instead choose hope. When our feet hit the floor each morning, we need to make the conscious choice to choose hope and joy for the day. We need to surround ourselves with the positive. We need to immerse ourselves in the Word. When we feel helpless, we need to turn to God- not fear. Is it hard? OH YES. It's ridiculously difficult. Sometimes we might fail and fun back to our place of refuge, the place we have the false sense of "safety"....our prison of fear. But, we can get back up. There is still hope. We can fight another day...and another...and another...and another.