Fear is a stinky word.
Fear has controlled me for so long…fear of what people would think of me, fear of not being accepted, fear of making a fool of myself… It has kept me from so many things in my life. Fear (and the approval of man) have often lead me to suppress my true self at times, particularly my passion for Jesus. Fearful that people would see the way I act sometimes (totally NOT like Jesus) and look down on me for not representing Him in a good light. (because christians are supposed to be perfect, right?!) Fear has kept me in a rut with my relationship with Jesus because I was too afraid to delve deeper into the “weirder” things of Christianity…
All that changed during training camp. I took fear by its neck and said “I am done carrying you on my shoulders!” I am finally ready to be open to the “weird” things of the Spirit of God. I refuse to listen to the voice of fear and allow it to hold me back.
The disciples of Jesus did weird things…speaking in tongues for example. The bible even says that we (Christians) are a peculiar people. (1 Peter 2:9 KJV) Good to know because I've sort of been "peculiar" my whole life, lol!
Let's get weird for Jesus!
One night at training camp we did this “prophecy” exercise. Now prophecy is more than just predicting the future… it’s like receiving a specific word from God for 
someone in particular, whether for someone you've never met or someone close to you… Basically it’s allowing yourself to be the voice of Jesus and allowing Him to speak through you.
So they had us stand in two different circles; those people on the outside were asked to close their eyes. The people on the inside were asked to find someone with their eyes closed and lay a hand on them. The people with their eyes closed were then supposed to pray for this person – whom they couldn’t see and had no idea who was standing before them – and tell them something that God specifically wanted them to know.
I have to admit I was a bit skeptical, but thought well might as go with it and see what happens. With my eyes closed I felt someone put their hand on my shoulder. I stood there for a minute not really knowing what to say…so I began to pray. I had this odd feeling that the person standing in front of me was male. I prayed for God to give this person courage, and I felt like God wanted me to tell this person that He wanted them to be courageous…to not give up, and to just run. Those are the things that just sort of popped up in my head. So while I’m saying all this I can feel this person shaking. So I’m assuming what I’m saying is right on.
I open my eyes and standing before me was my squadmate Dan. His face was beaming and exclaimed how accurate what I said was, about how much it spoke to him and was exactly what he needed to hear, especially the part where I said "to run" I was floored… I could hardly believe that God had spoken through me like that, especially when I was a bit skeptical. I’m telling you, this just fanned the flame that's been in me for a while for the weirder things of God.
Not that there is anything wrong with being a “normal” Christian…the world needs normalcy, and there are times for that… But for now… I am ready to be weird for Jesus! Who's with me??
