There Is Time to Topple Fear

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Fearful.  Lacking in trust. Worried. Who experiences these feelings?

The homeless | The middle class | The upper class

These feelings exist in the void that is created when we distance ourselves from God. To be even more specific, these feelings manifest themselves when God’s words of trust and love are not on the top of our minds and tips of our tongues and when God’s spirit is not running through our veins.  The God gap gets filled-in with fear, worry, mistrust and other destructive emotions.

We can be good without God in our minds and spirit in our soul. My mission is to let every person in the world know how the invitation of God into our minds and souls will take us from simply good to great.

When it’s cold outside, we rush toward the heat of a fireplace, space heater or warm room.

When it’s late at night and we’re alone in an area that appears to be dangerous, we scamper as quickly as possible to the safety of our automobiles.

When we or someone from our family is in trouble, we rush back to the security of the outstretched arms of our loved ones.

We’re always seeking something outside of us when all of the everlasting answers come from our divinity within.

There are plenty of things in the material world to worry about- financial security (money), job security, war (personal security), security in personal relationships, etc. These are the realities that we’re dealing with on a daily basis.

Is it possible to eliminate our fear, distrust and worry? Yes, but it takes diligence and commitment on our part.

The answer to our insecurity is to invite God’s security into our being. It’s a transformation from in-secure to secure-in.

I spoke with a business friend yesterday who I had the pleasure of meeting within the last year.  When we met, he was participating in a program that I was delivering for his company. During each of the two days of training, he and I ran-into each other in the hotel gym at about 5AM each morning. Because we were both working in a location outside of our home time zones, I was impressed with his commitment to his health routine.

I conducted another program for his company in October at a hotel in another different time zone.  Any guess who I saw at the gym at 5AM that morning?  Yes, he’s still committed to his exercise habit and still looking exceptionally healthy.

During our telephone conversation, I learned that in the very short period of time at his new company, he’s become one of the top producers . I also learned that this very healthy, top-of-the class performer is worried about his job, his relationship with his manager, his relationship with his wife and his uncertain future.

At the end of our conversation, he asked me if during our next conversation we could discuss any ideas that I might have to help him with the distrust, fear and worry challenges that he’s facing.  I didn’t know when or if we were going to speak again and this was way too important to let go so, I took a deep breath, said a quick prayer and dug down deep to figure out how to broach this subject.

I asked him a question that doesn’t tend to come up in most people’s every day conversations.  “Are you a person of faith?”, was my question.

I could hear a lot of myself and some of my other friends in his response.  He said, “My mother raised me Catholic and sent me to Catholic school. For various reasons,  it’s currently not a big part of my life.”

His various reasons were very real and very common:

• Disgust over the sexual scandal within the Catholic Church
• Frustration with local parish priests that are old, aren’t that charismatic, who don’t inspire and who don’t resonate as well with his young daughters
• Felt a little “out-of-touch” with the larger, non-denominational Christian Churches they had visited

He then said something else that I hear frequently.  “I live within driving distance of a beautiful mountain range. Can’t I just go out and pray or meditate or read scripture in the beauty of nature?”  The answer is yes.  We can pray and meditate and read scripture anywhere. But, unless we’re intentional about it, most of us don’t make it part of our daily practice – part of our routine.

I shared with my friend that my faith is the foundation that allows me to remain serene (most of the time) while dealing with life’s typical trials – money, relationship issues, family problems, unresponsive customers and prospects, worries about war and the economy, etc.

Faith that God is with us every second of every day in each of your thoughts and actions allows us to effectively  stay in a place of love, patience and kindness when what’s going on outside is anything but.  This deep-rooted faith is a result of inviting God to be a part of our entire life – the good, the bad, the happy, the sad.

Faith allows us to know that there isn’t any financial, relationship, career or any other problem that is too big for the combined consciousness of you and God.

One of the lines from scripture that recently touched me enough to write down on a 3 X 5 index card and carry with me so that I can memorize is, “Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him.”

Promises like this from the God that I know and love provide me with tremendous amounts of stamina, endurance and patience when things get tough.

Hearing words like this is good.

Writing them down to help reinforce them is better.

Internalizing them so that they are a part of who you are is best.

Because my friend had a fundamental knowledge of his faith, my few sentences of encouragement offered in response to his question were well received.

I then offered a suggestion that also made sense to him.  Make your relationship with God – the divinity within you -  a part of your daily life the way that you make your health part of your routine. I mentioned to him that I had purchased a 20-minute per day Bible that gives me the ability to read the Bible in its’ entirety within 365 days.  He quickly embraced the idea because he knows that he – like every person on the planet – has at least 20 minutes per day to allocate to something that he thinks is important.

He quickly asked me if he could purchase one at BarnesandNoble.com. I said “yes” unless, you’d prefer to buy one today from a local retail store. He’s going to welcome the word of God into his life on a daily basis starting today. I think that his plan is to allocate about 20-30 minutes before or after his exercise routine.

The key word is routine.  Relationships that we care about require daily nurturing.

When these words become imprinted in his mind, I know that over time his feelings of worry, fear and mistrust will melt away and be transformed into God-like feelings of love, understanding, trust and compassion.

Love God, love yourself and it becomes very easy to love others.

Trust God, trust yourself and it becomes very easy to trust others.

Develop Faith in God, faith in yourself that’s in alignment with God and it becomes easy to have faith in and expect the best from others.

Conscious of God, Conscious of divinity within, Conscious of divinity within others.