Another poem...

 This is a topic that I've tried writing about several times, with all attempts ending up in the trashcan. :) Regardless of whether this is trashcan worthy or not, it is going on my blog, because I can't think of much else to write!

Fear
It might hold me back,
But it makes me feel safe.
Though freedom, I lack,
From hurt, I escape

From panic to nerves,
it has many names.
But the master they serve
is always the same.

I think to myself,
what harm can it do?
My insecurities it quells,
my nerves it subdues!

It limits what I say,
and controls how I act.
Yet without any complaint,
I choose to be trapped.

"What will they think?"
The voice whispers inside.
My desires, they shrink
But the risks are denied

This 'friend' seems quite harmless,
my best interest in mind.
But the more of me I repress,
the less of me left to hide.

Though it's bonds do grow old,
 And it's chains cut in deep,
To its arms I tightly hold
Its company I keep.

Rather than calling on Jesus for strength,
To slash these shackles apart.
I cling to my captor with freedom at arm's length
And crave fear's secure grip on my heart.

But then, ever so softly, I hear Jesus' voice
So different from that of my captor
His gentle whisper offers rest from the noise
that bellows from the lips of this master.

I look in the eyes of my Savior,
His arms open wide, yearning for my embrace.
And I eye the key in the corner,
only a few inches away.

Which shall I choose?  I've had the key all along
But something kept holding me tight
Could it be that my captor has made me afraid
to accept the freedom that's already mine?

To be safe, or to be free.
The dilemma is mine.
But something in me
won't let me decline.

With one turn of the key
my chains drop to the floor.
And I jump up, free!
My bonds are no more.

As I sit in the lap of my doting Savior,
I realize something I'd formerly missed.
Fear didn't make me more secure,
All this time, it  just kept me from this.

By giving up fear, security came from a new source--
My Jesus provides me both safety and freedom.
But instead of fear making my decisions by force,
Jesus controls who I am and become.