Dear God,I know. We’ve had this conversation before. Several times, actually. Enough times that You must smile whenever You see me approaching with that look on my face…… The one that says, “Dad, it’s me again. And yes…it’s Fear.” I wish I could tell You I have conquered it. I wish I could announce proudly that after all the prayers, scriptures, sermons, motivational speakers, podcasts, affirmations, vision boards, gratitude journals, and deep breathing exercises, Fear finally packed its bags and relocated.But no. That stubborn thing still knows my address. It still visits uninvited. Mostly at night. Mostly after good news. Mostly before change. And almost always before miracles. Fear is just a Funny Fellow.I’ve noticed something about Fear, Dad. It has evolved. When I was younger, fear was simple. Fear was failing exams. Fear was disappointing my parents. Fear was a scary movie and a power outage at the same time. Life was easy then. At least fears wore name tags.But now?Fear wears suits. Fear carries laptops. Fear attends executive meetings. Fear sends emails. Fear smiles during performance reviews. Fear sits quietly beside successful people. Especially successful people, because contrary to popular belief, success doesn’t evict fear. Sometimes it upgrades its apartment.These days, fear rarely comes screaming. It whispers. And that is what makes it dangerous. It says things like:”What if this deal fails?” “What if they discover you are not as capable as they think?” “What if your children don’t become who you hoped?” “What if the business collapses?””What if your health changes?” “What if you lose everything?” “What if you are not enough?”My goodness. Fear has a very active imagination. The amazing thing is that most of its stories never happen. Yet somehow, it tortures us with them anyway. That should be illegal. Imagine a prisoner serving a life sentence for a crime that never occurred. That is exactly what fear does. It punishes us with imaginary evidence. In the corporate world, I see it everywhere. Brilliant people afraid to speak. Leaders afraid to make decisions. Managers afraid to lead. Employees afraid to innovate. Organizations afraid to change.Fear has cost more companies than competition ever could. Fear has buried more dreams than failure. Fear has made people stay in jobs they hate, relationships that hurt, and environments that suffocate them. Not because the situation was impossible, but because the unknown felt scarier than the familiar pain.And in our private lives? Ah.Fear becomes even more creative. It tells wives they are not loved enough. It tells husbands they are not respected enough. It tells single people that time is running out. It tells parents they are failing. It tells children they are not good enough. It tells everyone else that everybody else has life figured out……. Which is hilarious, because most of us are just walking around pretending we know what we’re doing. Fear is perhaps the greatest storyteller ever created. The problem is that it only writes tragedies and somehow expects us to perform in them.But here is where You interrupt me, Dad….. Because every time Fear paints its masterpiece, You quietly bring out a different canvas. A better one. Fear says, “What if everything goes wrong?” You ask, “What if everything goes right?” Fear says, “You might lose.” You whisper, “You might win.”Fear says, “You are alone.” You remind me, “I have never left.” Fear predicts disaster. You promise purpose. Fear imagines endings. You create outcomes.And that is where I get confused sometimes. Because the battle isn’t happening around me. It’s happening inside me. Fear and Faith are often standing in the same room looking at the same situation.One predicts destruction, the other sees possibility.One sees giants, the other sees grasshoppersOne sees the storm, the other sees the One who walks on water.Same situation. Different expectation.Which brings me back to something You taught me a long time ago. “The expectation of the righteous shall not be cut short”.Not fear…….Expectation. Not dread…….Expectation. Not anxiety…… Expectation.Because expectation is faith looking forward, and fear is faith looking backward. Both are waiting, but Only one receives life.So maybe the goal isn’t to become fearless, maybe the goal is to become greater than the fear. Maybe courage is not the absence of fear, maybe courage is simply hearing fear speak and refusing to hand over the microphone. Maybe courage is moving forward while your knees negotiate surrender. Maybe courage is saying: “I am afraid……but I will keep walking anyways”.Because, Dad, I am beginning to understand something. Fear is not proof that something bad will happen. It is often proof that something important is about to happen.The promotion. The new business. The new country. The new relationship. The dream. The calling. The next chapter.Fear usually waits near the doors we are supposed to enter. Its assignment is simple: “Convince us to stay where we are”. Faith’s assignment is even simpler: “Convince us to keep moving”.Fear’s greatest torture is not what it does to our future. It is what it steals from our present. It convinces us to suffer twice: once in imagination and again in reality. Wisdom is learning that most of the things we fear never happen, and most of the things that happen can be survived. The lesson is simple: Fear forecasts; Faith follows God. One creates prisons. The other creates possibilities. S we need to choose carefully which story we allow to narrate our life.And frankly, between the two, I know who has the better track record. So today, I choose again. Not because fear disappeared. Not because I suddenly became brave. Not because all my questions have answers. But because You are still You…… And I am still Yours.Therefore, I choose to expect. I expect healing. I expect provision. I expect wisdom. I expect joy. I expect open doors. I expect meaningful friendships. I expect my children to flourish. I expect love to grow. I expect purpose to unfold. I expect grace to find me on difficult days. I expect miracles in ordinary places. I expect good.And when Fear inevitably knocks on my door again, because we both know it will, I will offer it a chair. I will listen politely. I will thank it for its concern. And then I will continue building, loving, serving, believing, living, laughing, and dreaming.Because Fear may have a voice in my head…… But it does not get my vote.This your daughter Lord, I am still Your little Princess, still loved, still learning, still becoming, still expecting an end that is greater than the fear that tried to define the beginning, and still checking in.
