My friend Dr. Charles Lowery is a gifted speaker, psychologist, and human behavior expert. Several years ago I had the joy of working with him on a church staff in Albuquerque. As a mental health professional, and associate pastor Charles and I had some shared interest from helping people to know Christ and make him know, to understanding human behavior.
I have heard him speak on fear many times, and two power lines that he uses to describe fear are:
Forget Everything and Run
and
False Evidence Appearing Real.
I would like to add a third.
Forever
Exploring
Another
Route.
Think about that for just a minute. Fear almost always causes us to explore another path, one that is potentially less damaging and dangerous, but also less rewarding. I ran across this quote by Renature Cummeen, a blogger who brings a fresh perspective to the table, you might want to check her out.
Over the past twenty + years I have been directly involved in an excellent home-based business that has allowed my wife to work for herself from home. Premier Designs Jewelry, an excellent home-based business build on biblical principles, has been a tremendous blessing in our lives. In those years, I have talked with hundreds of people who live in fear. Fear of what others think, fear of failure, fear of success, fear of rejection, not to mention scores of other reasons. After hours of listening, I decided to do something about it.
After our 2015 National Rally in Fort Worth, Texas I contacted a friend of mine, and we put together a survey aimed at identifying the Six Top Fears of People in the Premier Jewelry business. I will share those results with you in just a minute.
The results of this survey have led me to work on a book, tentatively called Push Back Fear, which will be out later this year. In this book, I will explore the six fears and give you practical, proven way to overcome those fears. Also, I will include a Bible study that will take you into God’s Word and give you the additional truth that can set you free from fear.
If you have a story that you would like to share, that might be included in the book, feel free to email me
Before you freak out – remember, I have to clearly identify an issue if I am going to effectively deal with it.
Here they are:
Six common Fears that Premier Jewelers Face.
Never Sometimes Often Always
1. Fear of Rejection (94.85) 5.15% 37.77% 31.76% 25.32%
2. Fear of Failure (92.74) 7.26% 37.61% 34.62% 20.51%
3. Fear of Criticism (82.98) 17.02% 54.89% 20.43% 7.66%
4. Fear of Decision Making (74.24) 25.75% 50.21% 19.31% 4.72%
5. Fear of Public Speaking (64.94) 36.05% 39.91% 14.59% 9.44%
6. Fear of Responsibility (64.71) 35.90% 40.60% 14.96% 8.55%
Let me close with two powerful thoughts, one from my friend Keith Ungerer: I have read this a couple of times from the Jesus Calling book, but it has finally stuck with me.
“Do not give in to fear or worry, those robbers of abundant living. Trust Me enough to face problems as they come, rather than trying to anticipate them.”
The second from God’s Word.
For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity but of power, love, and self-discipline.2 Timothy 1:7 New Living Translation (NLT)
Next blog I will give you a quick test you can take to clarify where fear might be impacting you. But don’t worry – Fear Busting Tools are on the Way.