We've all heard it before. Do it afraid.
This has become one of those phrases we pass around like wisdom - a nudge to go for it anyway even while being afraid. And I understand the intention behind it. I do. But can I challenge this worldly wisdom?
What if ‘afraid’ isn't where we're supposed to stay? What if ‘afraid’ isn’t where we’re supposed to do things from? What if it’s not a good place to start?
Because here's the thing - the Bible doesn't say do it afraid. God doesn't look at His people trembling in the face of impossibility and say, that's fine, just feel the fear and go anyway. Over and over again, His instruction is clear: do not be afraid. Not 'manage your fear'. Not 'push through it'. Do not be afraid. He says it so many times that it stops feeling like encouragement and starts feeling like a command. Like He knows something about fear that we keep forgetting.
"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love and of a sound mind." - 2 Timothy 1:7
Fear isn't neutral. It's not just an emotion we need to learn to live with. It's a spirit. And it's a dangerous one. It distorts our vision, clouds our judgment and pulls our eyes away from the very thing - the very Person - keeping us standing.
Look at Peter.
When Jesus called him out onto the water, Peter went. He actually went. And in that moment of focus, of faith, of eyes fixed - he walked on water. Not metaphorically. He literally walked on water. Fear wasn't what got him out of the boat. Faith was.
But then he noticed the wind. He felt the storm around him. And fear crept in - and the moment it did, he began to sink. Fear didn't just slow him down. It made him sink. That's what fear does. It doesn't just make things harder; it actively works against us. It pulls us under. It makes us make decisions we wouldn't otherwise make. It takes our eyes off Jesus and fixes them on the storm - and suddenly the storm is all we can see. We need to stop dressing it up nicely. We need to stop giving it a chance. Fear is not normal!
I think we've been so busy normalising fear that we've stopped fighting it. We've dressed it up in motivational language and called it courage. But I want more than that. I want the kind of faith that looks at the storm and genuinely doesn't flinch. Not because the storm isn't real - but because Jesus is more real. He’s bigger.
So no, I don't think we should do it afraid. I think we should fight for the kind of faith that drives the fear out entirely. The kind that remembers what we've been given - power, love, a sound mind. Refuse fear. Fight vehemently against it. Don’t give it an inch because it’ll easily take a mile.
The storm is real. But so is the One who called you out of the boat.
Keep your eyes on Him.
Love,
D.Show