Find the place you fear the most and go there

On Tuesday, I got to class early when no one else was in the room and I noticed that one of the desks in the room was different from the rest: it wasn't just a boring table...instead, it had written words and pictures perfectly collaging the top. While some messages were not the most appropriate or friendly, there was one written darkly in the center that stood out over all the rest. It said "Find the place you fear the most and go there."

Sure makes one think, doesn't it? What do I fear? What places hold my fears? How challenging is it to visit these places, face these fears one-on-one, and battle something I've never even wanted to see?
And I realized that these "places" can be almost anywhere. They can (of course) be physical places, foreign countries, or even doctor's offices! You're afraid to travel via airplane? Ok, go get on an airplane and fly so far that you have no choice but to stop thinking about the fact that you're on a plane. You're afraid of the water? Go on a cruise and have fun! Alright, alright, I get it...you don't want to waste your vacation time trying to overcome a fear. Fair enough. ;) But there are smaller things you can do, and smaller fears you can tackle just by thinking about the places that scare you. Maybe churches scare you...go to a Sunday morning service somewhere. Try more than one church and see which ones make you feel most comfortable. I don't know; I'm just throwing examples out there, but everyone has their own personal scary places they are probably more ready to handle than they think!

Now, these "places" can also be mental states, feelings we don't want to confront, and pieces of the past hidden in our minds and hearts that we don't even consider revisiting. We've all been asked questions to which we answered "I just don't want to talk about it" or "It's too painful to talk about right now" or something similar. We have those memories we wish could just be erased from the past or throw into a black hole. We remember something and we just start to cry or we get mad...and then try to shove it way back down into the deepest parts of our heads again so we don't have to think about them anymore.
But what if we did?
What if we challenged ourselves to journey into those deep places of our hearts and those corners of our minds where secrets lie? What if we decided to really think about those moments and how they made us feel and even talked about them? [Just a side-note here: If you need to talk about something, I, Anjoli, am here for you with a ready ear and a willing heart] It's hard to talk about those things sometimes, I know...but it's true what people say about talking through our problems: it helps. We feel more at ease when someone else actually knows what's happening and how we feel. And it's also easier for some of them to be there for us when we are open with them. Maybe you have something even more serious in those secret spots--something you know you need to take to a professional. Is that your fear? Are you afraid of seeking help for a problem? That's not something to cause shame; that's something that should make you proud...you know how hard it is to tell yourself you need help and then to ask for it. It makes you a stronger person to be able to say "I have a problem and I need to fix it before I really get hurt."

Or maybe you're afraid to love. A lot of people get scared when they start to like someone of the opposite sex too much...and it's not usually that they are afraid of falling IN love; they're afraid of falling OUT of love; they're afraid of getting hurt...or they're afraid of something, anything (it's different for everyone), that comes with the commitment, the attachment, or the future of that relationship. You know it's a common feeling. But if this is you, I hope you know that you DESERVE love. You deserve happiness and fulfillment and, trust me, God is writing your love story...and, if you trust Him, He will fill in those blanks and give you those missing puzzle pieces. And remember: "For every girl with a broken heart, there's a boy with a glue gun." :) This goes vice versa for you guys out there, too!

I found a shirt recently that ties in with this. It said "FEAR: False Evidence Appearing Real" and had the perfect verse attached to it.

2 Timothy 1:7: "For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

So find your fear...and then challenge it. Go to the places that scare you. And then find out that fear has not overcome you. You have a God of power and love on your side!