The greatest battles you face are the ones on the inside. Erwin McManus is an author, mystic, futurist, filmmaker, designer and the lead pastor of Mosaic, a church community in LA.
He is also living with cancer.
The Last Arrow
McManus is famous for his visionary literary work in An Unstoppable Force: Daring to Become the Church God Had in Mind, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment and Soul Cravings. In authoring his latest book, The Last Arrow, he wanted to be able to write in a way you could read as if you’re at the end of your life, before you’re at the end of your life, so that you could live your life without regret.
After the first draft was completed McManus received his unexpected cancer diagnosis. Then he was told the cancer was more advanced than initially diagnosed.
He wondered if it truly would be his last book.
18 Quotes On Facing Fear, Anxiety, Worry, Failure And Pain
Fear
1. What you fear establishes the boundaries of your freedom.
2. If you’re afraid of heights you stay low, if you’re afraid of people, you stay alone. If you’re afraid of the outdoors, you stay inside.
3. You need to lean into your fears. Because your fears really become the material in which your life is limited. Every master who controls your life wants to destroy it except God.
4. Freedom is on the other side of your fears. You need to step through your fears to your freedom.
5. Our greatest fear might be there is something inside of us that will not be realized.
6. And most of these things that we’re afraid of, they never come to pass. We tend to be more afraid of shadows and possibilities.
Worry And Anxiety
7. Worry is really trying to control things that are outside our control, which actually sucks the energy out of your soul. So stop worrying about the things that are out of your control, and start focusing on the things that you actually do have control over.
Failure
8. Part of the reason that anxiety, fear and worry have an overwhelming effect on a person is because you haven’t failed enough.
9. Your future is on the other side of your failures.
10. Giving yourself to something that matters whether you succeed or fail is what’s truly important.
Pain
11. Your pain is not the boundary of your limitation. Your pain is the boundary of your greatness. It is where greatness begins.
12. If I can stand in this pain, I can face whatever pain is in front of me.
13. We need to learn how to walk in our pain.
14. You have to be willing to go through the pain to step into your greatness.
15. For many people pain will define them.
16. Jesus communicates to all of us that pain is not the end of our story.
17. God did not come into human history to give us a way out of the pain. He gave us a way through the pain.
18. Your greatness is on the other side of your pain.
McManus’ gets the last word – or arrow – “We’ve got to stop pretending this life is easy. Faith doesn’t make life easier. It makes you stronger.”
APPLICATION: What is your best quote takeaway? Please leave a comment below. Thank you.
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Number 16 really rings true for me!
“ Jesus communicates to all of us that pain is not the end of our story.”
Dealing with pain daily is no fun and sometimes it truly does feel like the end. God always gives me the strength to get through each day with pain (or no pain – He is always faithful)