So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. -Isaiah 41:10
I love this verse! It just reminds me of the love God has for me and that He will never leave my side. Like anyone else I too have fears but knowing God is with me gives me peace.
I first got saved when I was in high school and since then I hadn’t been going to church consistently until recently. The reason for that was because when you tell someone that you’re a Christian they automatically have certain expectations of you. I knew I could never meet those expectations, I knew there would be times that I would fail. But over time I realized that being a Christian doesn’t mean that you’ll always make the best decision but it means that you have a relationship with God (there is a lot more to being a Christian but I’ll save that for another blog). And with this relationship comes forgiveness. I see now that His judgment is all that matters. Having a relationship with God means giving God all my fears, even though it wasn’t easy to do at first.
Another fear I had was committing to this 11 month mission. To think of all the comforts I’ll be leaving behind, brought fear. The small things I’ll be missing like family movie night, my Thursday night dinners with my dad, cuddling with my baby sister or Target shopping with my mom and Alyssa. I fear leaving the comforts of my daily surroundings, not being able to come home to my bed when I’ve had a hard day. Knowing that I’ll be missing the holidays this year will be hard but I always tell myself it will be a small sacrifice for the big things that God will do in my life and of those around me.
When I talk to people about me doing the mission trip in Asia I get the question, “Aren’t you scared of what can happen to you out there?” The truth is there is always the fear of the unknown but knowing that I have God by my side gives me a calming peace about my travels. My response to that is, pray for me! There’s always going to be ‘what ifs’ but if I let the unknown stop me I wouldn’t get very far.
The fear of failure is a fear I think most of us can relate to. I have a fear that I will fail to meet my financial deadlines, fear that I will fall in my walk and fall short of the glory of God, fear that I will fail at the tasks given to me while out on the field and fear that I will fail my teammates. If I let those fears take over my decisions I wouldn’t be where I’m at today. I have to trust in God and stand on His promises. I’m so excited to see what God has in store for me. I can’t wait to hear these people’s stories of what they’re going through and what they’ve been through, to live with them in their culture and to see the world through their eyes. I’m excited to see how God is going to work in me and through me on this mission. #RayOfLightInAsia
