Do It Afraid

One thing that I've learned about God in the past few years of my life is that He is confrontational. Not in a sense that He deals with situations in an aggressive way, but in a sense that He never allows us to avoid confronting the hard things in our lives. The things that we often try to avoid. I've never been one to confront my issues head on. In fact, if I'm honest, I'd admit that I struggle with escapist tendencies. When I say that, I mean that instead of dealing with certain issues in my life, I often find ways to avoid confronting them and most often, I do that by reading a book, turning on a Netflix show, or just refusing to think about the problem. This is something that I struggled with for a long time.

Whenever I found myself in a difficult situation, my first inclination would be to find a way to not have to think about it. The irony of being an escapist is that when the television show is over, or the book is complete, you're always slapped with the reality of your problems. Nothing has changed during the time that you tried to escape the problem. In fact, in some instances, things only become worse. As I matured in my walk with Jesus, I realized just how much these escapist tendencies infiltrated my life, so much so that whenever I felt anxious or afraid, I would turn on a show or look for a book on Kindle to cope with my problems, instead of finding refuge in God. I felt like these wordly avenues would provide me with the escape that I needed instead of talking through my struggles with God.

In the past three years however, God has been challenging me to become more courageous in the way that I handle the problems in my life. He's been showing me first-hand how attempting to escape my problems causes me more harm than good. For instance, I waste so much time by putting things off that are important and I allow my fears to keep me from taking action. When God began to reveal these things to me, it stung. It's hard being confronted with your shortcomings, but I realized that God would only reveal this to me so that I can be better in this area.

After He showed me how I was holding myself back, He began to teach me about having the courage to confront my problems head on, by trusting in Him. He taught me how to face my issues, even when I feel afraid. Now, this has not been easy. At all. As a person who struggled with facing her problems in the past, having to walk in courage and push past my fears was tough. There were many instances where I wanted to give in, ignore my problems and turn on a Hallmark movie; but, I realized that if I ever wanted to see the solution, I needed to face my problem head on. I wish I can share with you all the instances where God pushed me out of my comfort zone and encouraged me to confront my issues. If I did, I would be writing all day; but, I do want to tell you the secret to success in this area: trusting that God is with you.

Whenever I felt afraid, I faced my problems anyway, because I understood that God was with me, helping me, encouraging me, comforting me. Although I still felt the fear, I knew within myself that I would be okay, and that God would work all things together for my good because I love Him. So, if you're an escapist like me, I urge you to take your struggle to God and then allow Him to help you like He helped me. I'm definitely not perfect in this area, but I've come a long way, and everyday, I'm learning and growing. No problem is too difficult for God. Nothing in your life is too big for Him to handle. Ask Him for the help that you need to confront your problems head on, and watch your life transform for the better.