It’s nice to be back in the flow after a bout with bronchitis. Unfortunately, there was no easing back into work after several days off. About five minutes after I returned home from my latest doctor visit, I got a text message from my boss asking me to let him know when he could call me with some major breaking news. Knowing that the only question here was how bad this news was, I connected with him right away and learned that our organization had lost one of its biggest contracts. We were now in a “all hands on deck” situation to determine the financial impact and come up with a plan of how to move forward.
I returned to work the next day into an environment dominated by fear. I learned that our CEO, instead of leading with a calm, focused approach, freaked out worse than anyone. Swell, my boss and I now had that additional obstacle to circumvent as we tried to engage our program teams and work toward a constructive plan of action. That is still very much a work in progress, and I don’t know how it will turn out, but I was reminded of how contrary to God’s way the element of fear is.
From a leadership perspective, it is almost always non-productive and leads to emotional responses that are not well thought out and usually harmful, often more so than the original situation that required action in the first place.
From a faith perspective, though, it is something much worse. At its very root, fear is our way of telling God “I don’t trust you.” That sounds really harsh, and most of us would never dream of saying that directly to Him, but if we give in to fear, isn’t that the message we are sending to Him? How many times do we have to read text in the Bible that says “do not fear” to understand that this goes beyond simple encouragement, which is certainly nice, to direct commands from our Lord.
It’s one thing experiencing fear-we’re human, and that happens. God knew that, that’s why we are coached throughout the Bible on how to handle it. I’ll never forget the sensation of my blood running cold when Brenda told me she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Scared-you bet! So was she. We fought that by praying and trusting, and nearly five years later there is no trace of cancer in Brenda’s body. Praise the Lord, which we often have for that healing!
Other times in my life, before my walk with the Lord was as strong as it is now, I gave in. I was in a job I should have left, but I watched the company crumble around me because I was so afraid of getting another job. I allowed myself to be paralyzed by fear, and my inaction resulted in me being laid off and unemployed for eight months. Even when I found a job out of desperation, it was at a lower level than the one I had lost.
Our actions always have consequences. Giving in to fear can have terrible physical, emotional and psychological ramifications. Spiritually, it also distances us from God when we really need Him the most. Faith, however, works the other way. The Lord gives us His strength, his peace, during the most challenging circumstances if we reach out to Him for it. It keeps us away from the “why me?” mode and moves us into the “God has a plan for this” mindset. Where would you rather be?
I’m not just talking the talk here; the Lord has given me an opportunity to walk it out in the workplace. My team is responding to the calm and focus God has filled me with and been calm and focused themselves. They are doing a great job of stepping up and producing what we need to so our upper management has the information they need to formulate a plan for moving forward.
That’s what the Lord always wants us to do-move forward. It’s hard to do when you’re curled up in a corner shaking with fear, but NOTHING can hold us back when we are walking with the Lord and being fed by the encouragement of His word. He says don’t fear, so don’t fear!
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