Fear is the absence of love.
Fear is a shallow bath in a tepid puddle of unbelief.
Love is the brilliance of a deep end dive into crystal cool abundance… Drinking in huge gulps of the miraculous.
In the depths of perfect love, belief is the ability to breathe underwater. The miracle is made real.
I recently heard a speaker ask, “if you have a dream where you are being chased by a bear one night, and the next night you dream you are being chased by 20 bears, in which dream were you in the most danger?”
Of course, I thought “the second dream!” 20 bears are much more dangerous than one!”
But the answer is, neither is dangerous. They are both just dreams.
They are worries and doubts that have not happened. They do not exist.
And this left me with the thought, how many of my fears and worries are real? How many are simply a busy mind game of “what ifs?”
They haven’t happened or they are being fueled by the past. And heaven knows, I am not interested in relieving the past. Also, I want to take a moment and thank God that social media didn’t exist when I was 16. There is no formal record of my past, and this is good.
Still, I relive fear and worries based on the past, which won’t recreate itself. And there is no point in worrying about in the future, which is not known.
I believe that we were given the opportunity to tell a different story. One that does not have a herd of bears chasing us. I call this the “pivot.” Simply stopping and saying, “are my thoughts REAL? Or am I just creating worst-case-scenarios?” Then, because the answer is usually “yes, I am just creating worst-case-scenarios,” I offer a new ending. I imagine a best-case-scenario. And voila! No more bears.
Jesus told us to have the mind of a child, and what does a child do better than imagine?
Furthermore, Jesus was a storyteller. He used parables to teach. So, if you can take a though captive and tell a new story, a happy story, with the images in the mind, you can then experience peace and joy, in abundance!
Remember, doubt and terror are but a grain of sand, without aim … it drifts to the depths of the ocean floor – never to be seen again.
It cannot be counted or found. It cannot clothe, feed, or nourish.
Let it not rule you… for fear must only submit to the roar of the tide that is Love.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34
by Jami Amerine
Jami Amerine is an author, speaker, artist, wife, and mom. She and her husband, Justin live in Houston, Texas and have six children. She holds a Master’s of Education in Counseling and Human Development. Jami and Justin are advocates for foster care and adoption. Jami blogs at sacredgroundstickyfloors.com.
