Remembering Who You Are

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." -Philippians 4:6-7

Feeling fearful? We've all experienced fearful thoughts and anxious worry at different points in our lives, but some of us seem to be bothered by fear on a regular basis. Why is this? It may be a "focus" issue.

More and more I come to realize that we "live" in our thoughts. Thoughts create an environment, a mood, a disposition, an outlook. They also cause us to feel strong or weak, faith-filled or fearful. The more we feed our minds and thoughts with God, the more our thoughts focus on Him and His power. The less we feed our minds and thoughts with God's truth, we open the door to distractions, negativity, worry and fear. Why? Because that is the world's default!

Sometimes I temporarily forget who I am in Christ. Sometimes I temporarily lose focus on who our powerful God is. Sometimes I only remember who the enemy is. Maybe you can relate. However, there is good news - we have control of our focus, thoughts and what we feed on! Remember that you are God's property and that all authority has been given to the Lord. When you put on Christ, then you can take authority over circumstances and fears.

From this day forward, let's choose carefully where we focus our thoughts and remember who we are. "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." -Philippians 4:8

Business Women: Walking Through the Fear

My husband, Scott and I took our boys to Silverwood Theme Park this last week. The boys raced for the Tremors roller coaster as my husband, Scott, drug his feet towards the winding line. By the way...Tremor’s is an old wooden coaster that drops over one hundred feet at 65 mph into a pitch black underground tunnel.

Our oldest son was screaming back, “Dad. Hurry up. Let’s get on this one.”

Scott walked even slower.

I said, “What is it? Are you scared of roller coaster’s? Why the slow pace? The boys are waiting.”

Scott said, “Yes! I am scared. The boys aren’t scared because they don’t know we are going to die. I do!”

I laughed and pushed Scott towards the ever growing line. Reluctantly he went on the ride. As he hopped off the ride (still alive), he realized it wasn’t so bad. Actually, he wanted to try it again. By the end of our vacation he was in the front car of the coaster riding with his hands fully extended in the air. I believe you could see his smile from space. It was a true transformation.

As we road on Tremors, for the 4th time, I thought about the correlation between roller coasters and small business ownership. I thought about the fear in Scott’s eyes when he went on that ride and the sheer joy when he got off the last time.

Owning a business is a pretty scary ride. There are many times when fear can take over a small business owner. There are ups and downs like a roller coaster. Sometimes we may want to jump off. But faith keeps us going. We know as we drop a hundred feet straight down or go 65 mph into the pitch black, we will get through it.

It is our faith that leads us. It is our faith that guides us down the path to sheer joy; A joy we can only receive, walking through the fear.

Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. And lo, no one was there. ~Author Unknown

-by Diana Kohn

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Diana Kohn is a member of Koinonia Business Women. She is the co-founder of FLAIR. You can reach her at 206-353-1003 or visit FLAIR's site at http://www.businesswithflair.com/ .