{"id":136212,"date":"2015-08-05T07:30:40","date_gmt":"2015-08-05T12:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=136212"},"modified":"2015-08-05T10:50:12","modified_gmt":"2015-08-05T15:50:12","slug":"fearless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/08\/fearless\/","title":{"rendered":"Fearless"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"july31full\"<\/p>\n

\u201cYou will only go where your fear allows you to go.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, isn\u2019t that just a crippling statement?<\/p>\n

We like to think of ourselves as limitless. In our day to day lives we think, \u201cI will say that hard truth that needs to be said. This time, I know I\u2019m going to do it.\u201d Or in our families, \u201cI will call my mother today, even if I know it means I\u2019ll have to acknowledge that I was wrong.\u201d Or in our ministries, \u201cI will speak to my youth about this moral issue, this truth taught by the Church, even though I know I will be challenged on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

But I know that so often in my life, I don\u2019t actually do these bold things, these important things, these desperately needed things. And while I hope I\u2019m alone in this, I know that I\u2019m not.<\/p>\n

What is driving us? Fear or faith?<\/p>\n

Because here\u2019s the reality – if we only live within the bounds of our fears, everyone loses. My sister is terrified of flying over oceans, but she’s been to Australia. I have a friend who is afraid of heights, but he’s climbed mountains and repelled down waterfalls. Jesus sweat drops of blood in Gethsemene, but chose to die on Calvary to redeem the world and restore us to the Father’s infinite love. If we let ourselves be confined by our fears, we miss out on the glories of life God has in store for us. We don’t become the people He is calling us to be. We don’t transform the world with the love of God.<\/p>\n

And God’s not leaving us to stare down these troubles on our own. In fact, He knows we can’t face our fears in isolation. He’s not asking us to. <\/em>The Lord wants to fight for us. He wants us to stand on Him and in His strength.<\/p>\n

He has assured us that He will fight for us and we need only to be still. He has told us that the Holy Spirit will equip us and teach us and give us the right words to say at the right times. He has promised us that with faith, it is possible to drive out demons, to move mountains, to walk on water \u2013 to defy all the odds and let miracles rush into brokenness. He has beautiful things in store for His own, and He wants to work those beautiful things through us.<\/p>\n

What if we actually believed<\/em> that?<\/strong><\/p>\n

What if we actually took God at His Word?<\/strong><\/p>\n

–\u00a0Alyssa Trutter<\/p>\n

Continue reading at Collaborative Catholic Formation Ministries \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cYou will only go where your fear allows you to go.\u201d Well, isn\u2019t that just a crippling statement? We like to think of ourselves as limitless. In our day to day lives we think, \u201cI will say that hard truth that needs to be said. This time, I know I\u2019m going to do it.\u201d Or… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":193,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[90],"tags":[910,2865,2867,888,1141,2866],"class_list":["post-136212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-faith-blog","tag-anxiety","tag-challenge","tag-choices","tag-courage","tag-fear","tag-living-out-faith","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":325318,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2016\/11\/can-we-be-catholic-and-american-archbishop-chaput-tocqueville-notre-dame\/","url_meta":{"origin":136212,"position":0},"title":"Can We Be Catholic and American? (A Response to Archbishop Chaput’s Bishop’s Symposium Talk)","author":"Lindsay Wilcox","date":"November 22, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Author's note: As commenter DanC kindly pointed out, I had my Chaput speeches mixed up. The post below has been corrected from its originally published version to refer to the correct context and original text. I apologize for any confusion I caused. I spent a while learning how to teach\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"flag-pixabay","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/flag-pixabay-550x289.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/flag-pixabay-550x289.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/flag-pixabay-550x289.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":130041,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/07\/a-demons-memo-what-happens-when-you-return-from-a-retreat\/","url_meta":{"origin":136212,"position":1},"title":"A Demon’s Memo- What Happens When You Return From A Retreat","author":"Matthew Hartwick","date":"July 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The following excerpt is meant to be a Screwtape Letters\u2019 type of writing. It;s written from the perspective of the demon. Because of this, \u201cthe enemy\u201d is actually God. In this letter, Slubgob, a senior demon, tells his colleagues about a group that came back from a retreat and how\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/stllewis-131x190.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":366051,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2017\/02\/courage\/","url_meta":{"origin":136212,"position":2},"title":"Courage","author":"Trenton Henrichson","date":"February 22, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"For Catholics of well- formed conscience, the drama unfolding at the Texas Capitol has been disconcerting at best. Gov. Abbot has ordered an emergency session to draft and ratify Senate Bill SB-4. The bill aims to penalize counties and cities whose law enforcement officials will not turn over their residents\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/vasquez-SB4-294x190.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":103830,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/04\/keeping-the-faith-and-divine-mercy\/","url_meta":{"origin":136212,"position":3},"title":"Keeping the Faith and Divine Mercy","author":"Crist\u00f3bal Almanza Herrera","date":"April 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"A Mormon once approached while I was walking through my neighborhood and started talking to me about his beliefs. 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