Category / fear

by tracymauro

Decisions…

Yesterday I finally joined most of the rest of the civilized world by subscribing to Netflix. I’m not a big TV watcher. Give me a book over a movie and a chapter over a show, please. I would rather have a high definition life than a high definition screen.

But I also have had a nearly 5 decade pattern of chronic disorganization. So I had to see what this “Tidy Up” business with Marie Kondo is all about.

And, like a “few” others – I’m officially hooked. On the show. Whether I get hooked on the actual process of tidying up remains to me seen. (Side note: My cat was relieved to learn she still “sparks joy” so she will not be returned to the wild).

I did glean one main observation from my mini binge watch last night. The people in the shows were not slobs or hoarders. They were simply normal good people who really did not want to make a decision about their stuff. Or maybe not so much about their stuff but about the parts of their lives that stuff represents.

So let’s determine not to let fear keep us from making decisions. It may be in our physical surroundings or it may be in our heads… but eventually that indecision will become clutter blocking our pathway forward.

by tracymauro

Our Worry Only Limits Us

Here is the prayer that closed this morning’s leadership huddle at the incredible hospital where I am so blessed to work:

Holy God,

This is the day that You have made – Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Each person gathered here is a masterpiece designed by You.

Help us to remember our worth when challenging situations arise. Should we feel depressed or lacking joy in our lives, help us to remember we are fearfully and wonderfully made in Your image.

Our worry does us no good and only limits us, and You do more with worry than we ever could. So help us turn our anxious thoughts and situations over to You and trust that You are working. You work all things for our good because You love us. May we always be mindful that You are working in ways that we cannot comprehend, as Your ways supersede ours. And in this working You are continuing to mold us into masterpieces that fulfill Your purpose.

For the unseen, the increasing of our faith and our capacity to love, we give thanks in Your Holy Name. Amen.

-Prayed this morning by Mary Beth Krivanek, Sr. Chaplain, Emory St. Joseph’s Hospital Pastoral Services

by tracymauro

Settled

If your heart hasn’t settled on the truth that God is good, He loves you, and He is more than enough – you are likely to settle for less than the beautiful and abundant life God designed just for you.

image

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” – Jesus (John 10:10)

by tracymauro

Being Strategic in the Face of Fear

other side of fear

One of my favorite reads lately is the book Fervent by Priscilla Shirer.  And, because I’m currently sitting in the middle of some pretty major career transition mixed with quite a few unknowns, the chapter on fear is really speaking to me.   And, if the enemy of your soul is trying to throw some fear your way to in order to keep you from your calling, why don’t you join me in weaving the scriptures suggested below into your own prayers.  Fear doesn’t stand a chance in the light of God’s truth.  Here’s how she closes the chapter titled: “Your Fears: Confronting Your Worries and Claiming Your Calling”:

“Remember these worries of yours? They’re not just stray thoughts; they’re deliberate strategies. Strategies to derail you from your destiny and calling. And the way to fight them is with a deliberate prayer strategy of your own.” – Priscilla Shirer

“When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. I praise God for what He has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?  What can mere mortals do to me?” – Psalm 56:3-4

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” – 2 Tim. 1:7

“The word of the Lord came to me: ‘I chose you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart before you were born. I appointed you a prophet to the nations.’ But I protested, ‘Oh no, Lord, God! Look, I don’t know how to speak  since I am only a youth.’ Then the Lord said to me: ‘Do not say, I am only a youth, for you will go to everyone I send you to and speak whatever I tell you. Do not be afraid of anyone, for I will be with you to deliver you.'” – Jeremiah 1:4-6

“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” – John 14:27

“‘For I know the plans that I have for you’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity – to give you a future and a hope.'” – Jeremiah 29:11

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go. I will counsel you with My eye upon you.” – Proverbs 32:8

“I will give you the right words and such wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to reply or refute you.” – Luke 21:15

“My sheep hear My voice and I know them and they follow Me. And I give eternal life to them. And they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. And no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” – John 10:27-29

“Therefore brethren, since we have confidence to enter the Holy Place by the Blood of Jesus – by a new and Living Way which He inaugurated for us -let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering.  For He who promised is faithful.” – Heb. 10:19-20, 23