But, in the still of the night, facing my divorced status and often near-empty checkbook, wondering how my children and I could face the future with hope, I cowered in fear and dread. When I read somewhere that courage is God + our fear, I prayed in desperation. If all I needed was my fear and whatever He brings to the table, maybe being chicken was not total failure on my part.
A single question began to pop up in my mind every morning: do you have enough for today? Yes, but... Little by little, I fed my strength--and my faith--by staying with the question, hoping against hope that God knew what in the heck He was doing. Chicken got transformed into guts by holding on for dear life and facing that which I could not face, one tortoise-step at a time.
Is there something you are not facing? You might put it into a sentence that begins, "My fear is that..." Imagine now that you match that fear with God: my fear + God. I encourage you to ponder this and see if an attitude, question, or gut feeling begins to take hold. It's a first step...and that's all we need for now.
