Nervous Vs Fearful

I've been contemplating lately the fine distinction between being nervous and being fearful. It's easy to confuse the two, but there's a world of difference.

Being fearful means you want to run from situations. You want to run and hide, to take flight and avoid certain trials and challenges. You're afraid of what might happen, how you might perform, and you don't want to embrace the challenge. In fact, you would rather the challenge didn't exist at all.

Being nervous is different. A situation or challenge might be very daunting and you might be very unsure of how you will fare. But many people who are nervous about something are also very brave at the same time. They throw themselves head first into the fire, they put themselves on the line.

Watching shows like X-Factor and The Voice is very interesting from this perspective. Some of those guys get so nervous, but they've willingly embraced it to get a shot at achieving their goals. As Tom Jones kept saying, "being nervous is good. Being nervous means you want to do a good job. If you don't feel nervous, then you're not alive."

It's also interesting watching the Olympics and how many of the athletes talk about being very nervous, but how the nerves sharpen them. They heighten your senses and make you more alert.

In a lot of ways, to actually operate at the peak of your abilities, you have to be nervous and you have to embrace it, and channel it into what you are doing. A lot of what God's called us to do is outside our comfort zones. The work he's got for us requires bravery and courage. The key is embracing the nerves and embracing the challenging, rather than running away and living a fearful life.

"I remember the answer I received when I once said to my venerable grandfather, 'I never have to preach, but that I feel terribly sick, literally sick, I mean, so that I might as well be crossing the Channel', and I asked the dear old man whether he thought I should ever get over that feeling. His answer was, 'Your power will be gone if you do.'"

Charles H. Spurgeon, The Soul Winner, p73-74.