This seven part series called “Letting Go” will cover seven topics that we all struggle to let go of at different seasons of our lives. But why do we? Why do we hold on to temporary things when they deteriorate us and make us miserable? The first part of this series will cover fear- so without further ado, here is Part 1: Letting Go of Fear:

We all have a story and we all have struggles. For me, it’s being fearful. I write about this often and I probably will continue to, but it’s something so prevalent in our society. We fear without knowing we are even fearing. We all fear something, doesn’t matter how big and tough you are, you fear something. Maybe you are still scared of the dark. Darkness is something that should be feared- we are born to fear darkness, because of the great Light we were born to love. Maybe you fear sickness and disease. Maybe you fear death. Me? I fear loss. And not in the sense you would think. I don’t wake up every morning scared somebody I know is going to die, I kind of fear abandonment. I didn’t grow up in a broken home with alcoholic parents. Quite the opposite actually. I grew up in a safe Christian home with both my parents. But I fear losing people close to me. I fear that people who are closest to me are going to walk out. That fear comes from a long list of people who decided I didn’t mean as much to them as I thought they did. And that’s not a new thing. It’s happened a lot in my life. I’ve been hurt. I’ve cried on my bedroom floor before because I felt like I had nobody. My heart has been shattered. And having that fear affects you. A lot. It affects the people around you. It affects your relationships. It affects your friendships. It affects your family. It affects how you view yourself.

I have had so many good friends in my life, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve also had really sucky friends as well. As a kid, I struggled with that. I didn’t understand why the kids didn’t want to include me. I didn’t understand why I was picked last in the games so often. As I grew up, I had friends who would hang out with me and as soon as their friend from school came to hang out, I was old news. I’ve had friends, best friends, leave without an explanation. I’ve had family call me names and treat me like I meant nothing to them. Some people I used to call sisters, I never see any more. I’ve had friends stop talking to me because of my honesty. So yeah, I fear losing people closest to me. I fear getting close to people at first because I tend to get attached really easily and that causes me to crash and burn a lot because people aren’t as attached to me as I am to them.

Don’t you hate it when you give somebody your everything and they give you nothing in return?

Yeah me too.

I hate that empty feeling you get in your gut when you can’t do anything anymore.

But God.

He restores.

He has done so much to restore my broken heart.

“Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?” (Matthew 8:26 KJV)

Being fearful is the opposite of being faithful.

And you know what? You have a God on your side who is faithful.

So why are you fearful?

Why am I so afraid of losing people that God has given me?

He’s been faithful to provide.

I was alone for a while but He restored.

He was there.

He made me okay.

And those few months of torture I thought I was going through was preparing me for the best months of my life that came shortly after.

Today I can say I have multiple people in my life who love me.

I have friends I can call whenever I need them.

I have family that won’t leave me.

And everyone who didn’t want to be a part of my life is missing out on all the adventures and crazy things God is doing in my life.

And you know what?

For once, I’m okay with that.

I’m thankful for what the Lord is doing in my heart and in my life.

I’m thankful for my friends.

And it wasn’t until recently that something really good was about to happen in my life, that I stopped and I was scared. I was scared of commitment because I didn’t know how it was going to end. I didn’t know if it was going to end. I didn’t know if this was the beginning of something that was forever. I didn’t know. That scared me. But God says “don’t be afraid.” God says “I conquered that fear.”

I had to work through that.

I had to let myself be fearless because if I didn’t, I was going to miss out on great things.

You have to really surrender your fears.

You have to force yourself to let go. Let yourself be vulnerable. Let yourself be free of your fears.

It’s kind of scary to do that because it’s kind of like a security blanket - your fears.

Letting go of your fears is opening yourself up to an abyss of unknowns and that is a scary thought but once it happens, I promise it’s not anymore. It’s a freeing concept.

Maybe the reason you don’t want to surrender your fears over to the Lord is because you don’t want to be dependent on anything or anyone. You don’t want to give the Lord your fears because they’re YOURS.

You don’t want to surrender.

I challenge you to lay them down.

Give them up.

Trust that He works out everything for good.

Trust that your God loves you with all that He is and all that your fear can be washed away. Because love conquers fear, and God is love. “Perfect love drives out fear.” 1 John 4:18.

Take down your walls.

You don’t have to be chained to the fears you face any more.

Being fearful doesn’t make you weak, it makes you human. We are made to fear because we were born into a broken and sinful world.

But you have a God who conquers all of your fears.

Don’t let your fears hold you back.

Be set free.