Which one has a hold of your dreams?
The only difference between fear and excitement is your attitude about it.
Have you ever believed that God gave you a dream for something outside your comfort zone? Perhaps, it was a dream to start a business, plant a church, move into a new job, start a new hobby, overcome a bad habit or go back to college. You knew this new type of risk would require God’s provision and direction, something you could not do on your own. Does the thought of this dream create fear or excitement for you?
Framing fear and excitement
I find it interesting that the two emotions – fear and excitement – exhibit the same physiological symptoms. Essentially, the emotional circuit of the brain, hypothalamus, controls how the body responds to fear or excitement. Fear and excitement will both trigger an increase in breathing and heart rate, your pupils will dilate and your palms will become sweaty. But what determines if it is fear or excitement?
We are designed to react, express and experience situations to decide if it is fear or excitement. For example, if you see a person coming at you with an axe, it triggers fear, but put that scenario in a horror movie and the fear converts to excitement. Framing the situation determines the shift from excitement to fear or fear to excitement.
There are other underlying factors that also influence an emotion from excitement to fear. Factors such as how you view yourself – self-esteem, doubt or confidence can play a role in producing fear or excitement. A past experience can sway your responses. Perhaps someone has spoken negativity over your life and those words have been on repeat in your mind.
Dreaming
Seven years ago, my husband and I, took a risk to plant a church in the cultural arts district of Fort Worth. For me, the beginning stages produced a lot of excitement about our new dream. Meeting new people, putting together our launch team, naming the church and wondering how God will show up was all terribly exciting. As the dream was being fleshed out, fear began creeping in. What if no one shows up? What if we close in a year? What if, what if, what if – the “what if’s” began to pile up.
Perhaps you can relate to the “what if’s” with your own dream. You feel or felt this excitement, like a breath of fresh air is infused inside of you. You can’t wait to see what is in store for your future. But, then something happens. You may feel paralyzed, frozen and unable to move forward. Self-doubt starts to set in and now months, perhaps years, have gone by and your dream is still just a dream.
“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and a sound mind.”
2 Timothy 1:7
Many days I have to lean back on this verse to remind me of what I can do with God as the author of my dreams.
- With the Holy Spirit you have the power to move beyond fear. You are not just going over the mountain of fear, but slicing through it.
- God’s perfect love cannot abide with fear – it casts it out. I pray that His love for you is a healing balm for those negative words spoken to you that cause you to doubt.
- You have a mind created by God. You have the ability, intelligence and wisdom to make good decisions for your dream.
God is so good in giving us dreams that encourage and strengthen who He called us to be. He did not give you this dream to make you feel like a failure if the dream has been in stagnant mode. He gave you that dream because He loves you and wants to see you succeed.
