Fear does not come from the Lord.
Read that again. FEAR DOES NOT COME FROM THE LORD.
My deepest struggle over these past 2 weeks has been wrestling with my fears. It seems that each day that goes by, I find more and more things that I fear about going away for a year to serve the Lord.
My fear of leaving behind my family, of abandoning my own will and exchanging it for His, of not being good enough, of disappointing all of those people who have invested so much in me and in this journey, of not meeting financial deadlines, of being called "out and up" by my teammates, of preaching in front of a congregation, whether that be in English or in Spanish, of missing three of my best friends' weddings while I'm away, of putting my health in danger, of loving people so deeply for an entire month and then having to leave them… only to do it 10 more times…
I could go on all day.
But as I was sitting, sulking in a mess of self-pity today, allowing the spirit of fear to take ahold of me, I heard the faint whisper of His Word being spoken into the depths of my heart…
"For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" -Romans 8:15
Fear is a form of slavery! It deceives us, binds us, places us in shackles… Fear builds a wall between ourselves and the Lord. Fear drowns out the voice of the One who has called us higher.. It steals our joy, and keeps us from being obedient. It allows pride to surface in our hearts, and creates within us a spirit of complacency and indifference toward the Lord. It destroys our ability to be useful tools for His Kingdom. Ultimately, FEAR separates us from our Creator.
What fears are you fighting this week?
Exchange them for His peace and truth… rejoice in knowing that you are forever HIS, because He has adopted you into His family and He will never give up on you.
1 John 4:18 tells us that it is HIS perfect LOVE that casts out fear. So receive His love today… Rest in the embrace of His love, knowing that there is no safer place you could be.
