Fear is something we often neglect to acknowledge. Some fear is healthy to keep us being careful when crossing a busy street. Fear may also be unhealthy. Psalm 94:19 says: “When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.” Anxiety is something we may all experience at times. But, the Lord is clear we should cast all anxiety on Him through prayer and thanksgiving and He will actually bring us joy in the midst of what we are facing. Phil 4:6
The Wall Street Journal ran a story that 25% of Americans postpone trips to the dentist because of fear, according to American Dental Association surveys. “the fear comes in many forms. There's fear of pain, fear of needles, fear of drills, fear of blood, fear of gagging, fear of feeling helpless or having personal space violated, fear of being lectured for not brushing or flossing adequately, and fear of being admonished for staying away so long,” according to the article. Full story available on this link: http://on.wsj.com/iihp7v .
Fear can hold any of us back in our business, too. Paul wrote, “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7
If we fail to go to the dentist and take regular care of our teeth we pay a price. The real pain may come in several years, when we need a crown instead of a small filling, or the tooth needs to be pulled which could easily have been saved. Our dentist pasted a sign on the wall, “Floss only the teeth you want to keep”. Most of us don’t enjoy flossing, but these steps save much greater pain later.
Likewise in our business we may experience pain and feel anxious having to deal with it. Perhaps we don’t want to confront a problem employee, return a call to a difficult customer or tackle a messy project. In the past, I didn’t want to deal with angry, or difficult customers and at times avoided them. Over time, I learned that when the customer finally did get to me, the problem was worse, the situation far more sticky and difficult to resolve. Situations I could have resolved with a little pain in five minutes now took an hour and I lost a few customers along the way. When I faced off, and worked through these painful times, the overall pain was much less.
Kyle owned a speakers agency. Several sales persons were under producing, coming in late and otherwise slacking. Kyle just didn’t want to confront these issues. The more effective sales people started adapting some of these bad habits. I was able to help Kyle take a path to start working to fix these bad habits. Over time, his performance improved, while two others departed. He came to understand as he faced his fear, and took action that fear receded and excellent progress was made. Kyle was motivated to face the fear because his business was slipping badly into the red. The financial crisis forced him to act.
As a ReadyChristian we become even more resilient to move beyond our fear and face crises of all kinds so that we are calm and capable leaders. Others will notice when we are spiritually, emotionally, mentally and physically resilient and then will be drawn to the One who gives us courage.
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