What are you afraid of? I bet you have something. Something that makes you weak in the knees. Something that quickens your pulse and makes your palms sweaty. My number one thing as a youngster was public speaking. When I had to give an oral book report I kept my eyes on my notecards and never looked up from them once to make eye contact with my classmates.
God made me face those fears when He called me to preach.
There are other fears to face now. Mostly they revolve around God requiring some step of faith. After close to three decades, you would think those faith steps would no longer come with fear. Trouble is those faith steps that started out as baby steps decades ago are now giant leaps. The stakes are higher. The risks are greater. The fears are magnified as well.
Fears that come in the form of questions. What if I heard God wrong? What if I fail? What if people around don't believe and support God's assignment? Why an ordinary person like me? Can God really call me to such faith steps?
Time and again God has required me to face my fears. I bet He has also done that for many of you. God has a lot to say about fear. One of my favorite is the following verse.
2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV)
7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
Another verse that speaks to fear is found in Isaiah.
Isaiah 41:10 (ESV)
10 fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Noah faced them. Moses had to face his fears. Samuel did when he first heard from God. So did David. The disciples and Paul did as well. So will we. From where we sit we see some big scary monster fear staring us down and breathing down our necks. We know what we have to do. We have to summon courage which comes from faith. We will have to take a deep breath, face that fear and step out trusting God with the outcome.
No comments:
Post a Comment