The circumstances in which we are most uncomfortable reveal what is on the inside of us.
It is in times of crisis like COVID-19 that we can succumb to the fear and chaos, and spiral downward of our negative thoughts and emotions. Or we can decide to pause in the turbulence, lean in, and open to the valuable wisdom that is available.
If we will resist giving in to anxiety and panic, hiding out, and distracting ourselves to merely survive, and instead, view this uncertain season as a time of rest, recovery, and re-evaluation,
we offer ourselves an opportunity to grow and transform in powerful ways.
Today, I want to share the second of The 4 Life-Changing Lessons I’ve Learned From The COVID-19 Crisis so, you, too, can allow this season to transform you and your life for the better.
The second life-changing lesson I’ve learned is this:
Fear Runs Us but Love Heals Us
It’s evident, especially over the past couple of months, how much fear drives us – individually and as a society. Fear activates a compulsion in us to try to do enough to have enough so, we feel like we are enough. We are desperately in search of our value and significance.
Fear also motivates us to strive and hustle in fervent pursuit of creating our own success and prosperity. It drives us to perform and control to create security and certainty in our lives. Our need and desire for value, significance, success, prosperity, security, and certainty are all valid, and they are wired in us by God.
Yet, when our pursuit of them is driven by our fear of not having them, the result is always the same. No matter how much we achieve, accumulate, or attain, we end up feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, frustrated, unfulfilled and even burned out. We can never be or do enough to quench our thirst for significance and value, and we can’t achieve or attain enough to fill our ache for certainty and security. When fear is our motivator, it always drives us right into bondage – a prison of our own making.
We were made with a God-sized hole in our hearts, and our question of worth, value, and significance can only be answered by who we are in Him. When and only when we know deep inside that we are loved and cared for daily by Him in every area and detail of our lives, will we feel significant, secure, prosperous, and fulfilled.
I encourage and challenge you to examine how fear is driving you right now in your life. Notice how fear, though it may feel motivating, is actually propelling you into greater bondage. Decide today, that instead of continuing to be run by fear, you will allow that deep yearning inside to drive you to the heart of God, who calls you His beloved child, and who wants to offer you anything and everything you ever could want or need in abundance.
1 John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
This truth confirms that we only feel and are run by fear when we don’t have a clear understanding of God’s perfect love for us. When we are willing to stand up to fear and no longer allow it to manipulate every thought, emotion, and action in our lives, and instead, let it lead us to the perfect love of our Creator, our fear will be drowned out by His overwhelming love.
As we seek His presence, and His Spirit comes alive in us, we are filled up from the inside out and we are transformed by His love. It is then that the powerful shift in our hearts and minds happens. We are free to live FROM our significance instead of trying so hard to live FOR it. We can live certain and secure in His generous, faithful provision instead of striving and struggling to create a false sense of our own. And we can enjoy the prosperity that naturally follows being fueled by our passion and living out of our unique purpose because experiencing the fullness of His love will gently guide us back to our own hearts.
When we live in harmony with His heart and with our own, we can live bravely, freely, and authentically as our best, and happiest self, and thrive in the life of freedom and fullness He intended for us. We can wholeheartedly trust that His love for us never wavers or fails us, and His supply of goodness and abundance never runs out.
Lean into this season, friends. Be open to learning and growing. Allow this time to shift your thinking, expand your awareness, and transform your being. There’s always beauty in the pain, lessons in the struggle, and much to be grateful for in all of it.
Times of crisis change us. Let this time transform you from the inside out so that your life is never the same. Let it be better than you can imagine!
