Faith Over Fear
I’m a t-shirt kind of girl.
My daily uniform consists of jeans (or a maxi skirt when I need to be fancy), flip flops, and a t-shirt from my expansive collection.
But when we decided to broadcast the Water Walking Bible study I’m teaching this summer on Facebook Live, I decided my usual apparel wasn’t up to par. Nope, it was time to dress up a bit – raise the bar on the ‘ole t-shirt wardrobe.
Because the camera adds ten pounds, and by golly if I was going to look chubbier I was also going to look cuter.
So I made my way to my favorite consignment store. The sweet girls at Fringe brought me all manner of fun clothes to try on – things I would never have coordinated on my own because my fashion sense is pitiful. But by the time they were finished with me, I had several outfits that were Facebook Live worthy. I felt confident in my pretty new things and my insecurity about the camera went down a notch or two.
The day before the study started, however, I developed a serious case of FEAR. “What was I thinking starting this Bible study? This was not a good idea! I’m not capable of teaching these women. I’m going to look S-T-U-P-I-D.”
(we don’t stay stupid at my house)
Late that evening, though, as I was considering faking sick in order to escape inevitable failure, I decided to check the mailbox. Inside was a large vanilla envelope. When I pulled out the contents, chills ran down my arms.
I unfolded a shirt ordered weeks before with the words “Faith over Fear” written on the front.
Go ahead and try to tell me the Lord didn’t ordain the timing of that shirt arriving in my mailbox the very day I was consumed with fear over teaching a Bible study about STEPPING OUT WITH GOD DESPITE OUR FEARS.
Holding the shirt I closed my eyes and thanked God for sending such a personalized message written on my favorite thing…a t-shirt.
And thinking of all those fashionable, new (to me) clothes that were hanging in my closet, I knew what else He was saying to me:
I’m your confidence, Beth. Not your appearance. Trust me with what people think of you. Your job is to do what I’ve asked you to do. I’ll take care of the rest. Forget the new clothes and wear this t-shirt instead.
And so I did. I wore the shirt God sent me to Bible Study. The girls at Fringe are good, but when God picks out your outfit, you best go ahead and wear it.
I did, however, add a couple of cute necklaces. Because He didn’t say anything about accessories. 🙂
If t-shirts are your thing too, and you need a wearable reminder to have faith over fear, pick up one of your own here:
https://www.bonfire.com/beths-faith-over-fear-shirts/