What Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone Teaches Us About Giving God Our Fears
By Movieguide® Contributor
Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone often speaks about how she had to run from fear to faith to find freedom in Christ.
“For [the] majority of my life I had an unhealthy relationship with fear. It controlled everything, until God’s grace granted me true and lasting freedom by way of Jesus Christ,” she posted on Instagram.
For many, fear takes over their lives, keeping them from living in God’s plan.
“Fear arises when we imagine that everything depends on us,” missionary and speaker Elisabeth Elliot said.
However, with Jesus, we don’t need to fear. In fact, in 2 Timothy 1:7, Paul writes, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”
Since God does not give his children the spirit of fear, where does it come from?
Pastor Craig Groeschel said, “Most of life’s battles are won or lost in the mind.” Thus, fear arises when we take our focus off of God and give our worries control.
In her new book “Far Beyond God: Running from Fear to Faith,” McLaughlin-Levrone shared how fear and overthinking almost ended her relationship with her future husband when they first started dating.
“Fear started running the show again, making me want to shut things down before they even started,” she wrote. “The idea of things not working out overshadowed the possibility that this was God’s plan for my life.”
“I was under the impression that if things with Andre didn’t’t work out, it would be because I had somehow failed,” she continued. “I was forgetting that if God has plans for you, no one, not even you, can stop them.”
As believers in Christ, it’s not up to us to figure our lives out. God has already done that. Instead, we must trust in God and follow him diligently, even when we’re afraid.
There’s no quick fix to fear. Everyone experiences it in some form, but it’s what we do with it that matters.
In Philippians 4:6-8, Paul tells readers what to do when fear tries to take control:
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
If we want a peace that surpasses all understanding, we simply have to go to the Father in prayer and humbly lay down our pride, worries and fears before him. We can’t handle fear on our own, but the good news is that we don’t have to.
