No Fear

My name is Sister DeAnna Randolph and I’ve got a testimony! For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind (1. Timothy 1:7). However, that is exactly where I found myself a few years ago – paralyzed with the spirit of fear.  

I was on my way into work one day and asked the Lord what my next move should be concerning my career. He told me as plain as day the exact place! It sounded a bit intimidating because I knew I was not adequate to handle such a big job. But since the Lord said it, I asked Him to make the way if that’s what He really meant for me. No more than three days later, things started to move and within a few months I had received a job offer in the exact place the Lord had told me to go. 

Now that it was becoming more real, fear began to set in – fear like I’ve never experienced before. When I began asking around to see what the new job would be like – my concerns were reinforced. “You’ll have to work for people who will dislike you because of the color of your skin,” one said. “There are people there who will block you from doing your job just because they have the power to do so,” said another. “The job there isn’t like anything you’ve ever done in your career before and you work alone so you’ll have to figure it out on your own,” said yet another. The more I heard, the more fearful I became. “Lord, why would you bring me to a place like this, knowing I was already terrified. Even if I was equipped to do the job, if people are going to hinder me from doing my job, how can I ever progress and move forward?” 

It seemed like I heard nothing from heaven so I went to my Pastor. “Maybe he can show me how to back out of this thing the appropriate way,” I thought. However, he simply smiled and said, “If God told you to go, He will make a way for you to be successful. If there are people who block your way, He can move them out of the way. If people don’t like you, you show the love of the Lord and keep doing your job because you don’t work for them – everything you do, do it as unto God.” Although it wasn’t what I thought I’d hear, it was exactly what I needed. Suddenly, I was able to sleep again, I stopped stressing, and I started the job.  

 Since starting, the Lord gave me the power to go around those who tried to block my way by putting people in my path to speak on my behalf when others try to hinder me. God has shown me how to love all with the love of the Lord so that leaders and workers alike have come to love and accept me for who I am with no regards to my age, gender, or ethnicity. Even when I was given 30 days to become an expert on the job, my Pastor reminded me of the story of Daniel when he excelled above his peers in a short period of time, and God could do that for me as well. God gave me a sound mind within those 30 days when HE taught me the job so that I excelled above my peers. I still get fearful at times, but God reminds me of His Word – He has not given me the spirit of fear! And that’s my testimony!