The F Word

I know what you might be thinking.

There is no way that I am going to read this Devotional Dan is going to talk about the F word! What is this crazy guy thinking?

But here you are..

Still reading.

Do you know why you are here?

It’s because I have piqued your interest and you know that you want to learn more about the F word.

Ok, that’s enough teasing. Let’s get right down to business.

Lots of people don’t like the F word. But you know what, it doesn’t offend me anymore. Because I have learned the real meaning behind it.

Recently I was at a Marketing conference, yes a marketing conference, I know crazy right. And guess what. They used the F word EVERY DAY! I’ll bet I heard every speaker use it multiple times in each presentation.

Did I get offended?

You better believe I did NOT!

God uses the F word every day.

In fact, if you are reading this you most likely use it too.

Ok by now you are probably wondering, Dan what F word are you talking about because I sure as heck don’t use it every day! and I hardly ever hear you use it.

You might be thinking about a different F word.

Did you know that in the English language there are over 5000 words that start with the letter F?

The one that I’m referring to is FAITH.

Faith is something that we must use every day.

When we start a new project, we have faith that we will finish it.

When we get behind the wheel of our car or truck, we have faith that everyone else will stay on the other side of the yellow line, so we do have a head-on collision.

We have faith that others and ourselves will make good sound decisions every single day.

We cannot truly live without faith.

Do you know the opposite of faith?

No clue?

Alright, I’ll tell you.

It’s FEAR!

Can you imagine getting behind the wheel of your car and only being afraid about everyone crossing the yellow line?

We would never leave our house.

You see God NEEDS us to have faith that he is there for us. He NEEDS us to have faith that he will protect us. He NEEDS us to have faith in him and know that he will make us prosper.

Satin thrives on Fear, where God thrives on Faith.

When we fear something, anything it gives satin this pulse of energy and he feeds off it.

When I was a firefighter, I remember going to work, no worries at all. I was there to help others. I had faith in my knowledge and God’s ability to keep me safe.

Multiple times I literally ran into the middle of a car crash or a burning building. Pretty much the definition of insanity to most people.

But not to me. I loved it!

Then on my way home from my shift, I would keep a close eye out for where my house was and always look for smoke.

You see I would let fear creep in on me while I drove home. And I would get scared that one day I was going to come home to nothing but a pile of cinders and what was left of my house.

I let fear win. Every day.

Just like you do in some way or another.

Raise your hand if you have let fear win before and completely changed your plans because of it?

Mine is definitely raised.

In fact, we have put off going to Costa Rica as a family because of fear for 2 years now.

Want to know how I fight fear? How did we quit a 6-figure job and started our own business, then a nonprofit, then buy more businesses?

The truth is that every time I start to get scared (fear) I recognize it.  Just like Jesus did. Then I go head-to-head with it, look it in the eyes, look up and say, God you and I got this, I can’t do it by myself, but you and me. We got this! 

Jesus did the exact same thing. Matthew 26:36-44

When fear started to creep up on him, he faced it knowing that his father had his back!

God has got this!

 

Take action

Here’s what I NEED you to do right now.. take a deep breath in, place your hand on your heart. Do you feel your heart beating? God did that!

Now think of the last time you were scared.  How did you feel? It didn’t feel great. Did it make you want to hide or go out and conquer the world?

On a scale of 1-10, how scared were you? If it’s only 3-4 grab a scarier moment. It really needs to be a 7 or more.

Now let go of that feeling.  Let it go, literally push it away from you. Take your hands and push that fear away from you.

It’s time to find a moment when you were excited and proud, a time that you had MASSIVE faith. A time that you knew you could do anything!

Bring that into your whole body!  Put yourself in that moment.  Do it!

What happened right before that moment?  Were you scared? Of course, you were. Our greatest FAITH comes right after we conquer fear!