Fearing less

We all have fears, all kinds of fears.

the fear of being alone, the fear of failing, the fear of height, the fear of people, the fear of tomato sauce, the fear of being disliked, the fear of rejection, the fear of spiders...

Basically, if I go on and on, the list will probably never end.

A person once told me that being strong is a choice. 

Since then, I have always told myself that being afraid is a choice, since being courageous enough to overcome fear is a choice. Every time fear tries to come in, I would proclaim to myself that "I AM STRONG, I AM NOT AFRAID". Honestly, sometimes it really works. I guess it is pretty psychological. Haha! Anyhow, if I were honest enough, I sometimes still had a little fear in my heart even though I chose not to think about it at all. 

A friend once admitted that she had many fears, so someone recommended her to list them down and pray over every single fear. It sounded like a great idea but we forgot about it until a few months later. When I realized that her fear of walking back to her hostel alone was no normal fear, we decided that it would be best to let God help her overcome her fears. So she happily agreed to list them down together with me one night, then we went to the college staircase to pray over every fear that she has written down. I would have thought that a miracle would mean that she suddenly gains superpowers to overcome fear. But of course, it did not work out like that.

After that day, I still had to walk her back at times but she did become braver. She tried to walk back herself when she had to, she even tried sleeping in the dark and felt peace like never before. Not to say that she had suddenly transformed into a brave woman, but I could see that a miracle was slowly taking place in her heart. She was more willing to make choices to be brave instead of using fear as an excuse. 

After receiving a call from her a few days ago, I was even more sure that God heard our prayers. "You know how you used to say that you would pray for protection before you go jogging alone or before you walk back late at night? You have always believed that you will be safe and it kinda rubs off on me, you know. Now I do that too, then I would walk alone and know that God is protecting me." 

Some people might say that this is naive, some people might say that it is luck that I've been safe, but I still believe that many things could have happened if God didn't look after me every time I do something that is not so safe. Sometimes we don't have a choice that we have to do things alone, but we always have a choice to pray and trust God for His protection. 

I know that I can never be a fearless being, but I do know that I can always trust Him to take care of me just because of His grace and love. Hence, I can always fear less. =)