How to Move Forward When You're Too Afraid to Start

There is a kind of fear that locks you in place. The kind that makes the next step feel impossible, even when you know it's the right one. If you're standing in that kind of fear, the moment God spoke to Moses out of a burning bush has something to say to you.

What you need to be convinced of is this. When God speaks, it's for your good. Good is going to come. God doesn't speak so you'll be afraid. He speaks so you'll be convinced of His goodness.

For every doubt Moses felt and every moment of fear, God answered with reminders of His goodness. Look at five things God said to Moses, and see what God wants to say to you in this place.

When God Speaks, He Changes the Room

The first good of God's speaking is that it totally transforms and changes the environment. When God speaks, it changes the room.

In Exodus 3:5, God said, "Do not come near here. Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."

A patch of wilderness became holy because God spoke into it. The dirt didn't change. The location didn't change. What changed was that God's voice entered the space. The place Moses assumed was ordinary turned out to be holy. The place that looked like nothing but dirt turned out to be the very ground where God was meeting him.

When you're afraid, every environment feels hostile. But God's voice is what changes the room.

When God Speaks, He Reminds You of Your Heritage

When God speaks, we are reminded of our spiritual heritage. In Exodus 3:6, God said to Moses, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."

God knew Moses because God knew his ancestors. The God speaking from the bush wasn't astranger. He was the same God who had walked with Moses' family for generations.

When fear isolates you and makes you feel like you are starting from scratch, God's voice reaches back into your story and reminds you that you are not the beginning. You are stepping into a story God has been writing all along.

When God Speaks, He Shows You What's Possible

In speaking to Moses, God also relayed His mission and the good He wanted to do.

In Exodus 3:8, God said, "So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey."

God was going to change His people's experience from slavery to abundance. From a narrow, brutal existence to a wide, generous one.

When fear has you in its grip, the future shrinks. The land you can imagine becomes small. But God's voice widens the horizon. He shows you the land you have not seen yet.

When God Speaks, He Gives You a Mission

The good continues. In Exodus 3:10, Moses received his mission. God said, "Therefore come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt."

This is the moment fear usually wins. The moment God says, "I'm sending you." But notice the order.

God did not lead with the assignment. He led with the holiness of the ground. He led with the heritage of the family. He led with the good He was already doing. By the time the mission landed on Moses, Moses already knew who was sending him.

If God is calling you to something hard, the call is not the first thing He wants you to hear. The call is the fourth thing. He wants you to know who He is, what He has done, and where He is going before you ever take the next step.

When God Speaks, He Promises His Presence

One more item of good. In Exodus 3:12, Moses was assured of community. God said, "Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain."

God showed His goodness in so many ways. It seems as if for every doubt Moses felt, anytime Moses felt fear, God wanted to overcome every one of those instances with reminders of His goodness.

He changes the environment. He knows your story and your heritage and your history. He understands your situation in life and wants to make it better. He is sending you on a mission of transformation. And you are not going to do this alone. God is going to be with you. The Holy Spirit will dwell in you. The good outweighs the fear. The power of God is for your good and for the transformation of the church.

When the Good Outweighs the Fear, You Get a Song

All this goodness leads to a song.

After the series of plagues, after the Passover, the people were set free from Egypt. They headed toward the Red Sea. Moses took something from his shepherding days, the staff, and raised it up, and they crossed through the sea on dry ground. They got to the other side, and they had a song.

In Exodus 15:2, Moses and the sons of Israel sang, "The Lord is my strength and my song. He has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will praise Him, my father's God, and I will extol Him."

This is celebratory theology. Theology is doxology. A word from God is a word of glory.

Whatever you are afraid to start, God is not speaking to scare you. He is speaking to convince you that He is good. He is changing the room. He is reminding you of your heritage. He is showing you the land. He is giving you a mission. He is promising His presence.

On the other side of the next step, there is a song waiting for you to sing.