“What is your biggest fear?”
“Ooh, that’s scary!”
“How does your mom feel about that?”
“Please just be safe.”
…aaaaand these are a few of the responses I’ve gotten, and I’m sure some of my teammates have gotten, while sharing about what we are going to be doing this August. There is always a bit of hesitation at first until some, not all, warm up to the idea. I never thought that the majority response would be so much fear (sometimes I’m oblivious) but our route is dangerous so I can’t be surprised…exactly. They are well intentioned voices, but not well informed. For people who aren’t familiar with God, a response of fear is not much of a shocker, because they aren’t familiar with our amazing Protector! But for people who follow Christ that should not be the immediate response.
Why? Because those responses don’t sound like the army of the God I know.
Doesn’t God call us or bring us through things that some people say is “scary” or “out of the norm” a lot of times?
Look at Moses, look at Noah, look at Jonah, look at Joshua (stopping there).
Doesn’t He call us to be a light in dark places?
Look at Jesus!
I would be far more afraid of knowingly opposing God’s will and walking the other direction because I let a voice of fear be the decider of my fate, than I would be walking in dangerous territory that God’s already laid claim over. I have already determined in my somewhat stubborn heart, that I fear God more than I fear man.
Just this week, I was in Illinois visiting family and we visited my aunt’s church. The sermon, from Dave Brickley, was entitled “BRAVE”, and it was so perfect.
He said, “Bravery is not pretending like fear doesn’t exist but contending with fear for the sake of something greater.”
And of course different things scare different people as well. I know I am internally very afraid of public speaking, but traipsing around the unknown doesn’t frighten me one bit. Going on this mission, I feel no fear, right now at least… that isn’t to say I won’t experience it along the way by any means. I have read selections from “Voice of the Martyrs” so I’m not in the dark on this subject but I’ve gotten the vibe and questioning along the lines of … ‘do you even know?’… from some of the people I’ve talked to. Now this is worst case scenario BUT even in the extremes, even if I was martyred for my faith, He would still be there supernaturally protecting me because He has promised to always be with us.
One of my favorites Joshua 1:9- “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” tells me that fear is a choice. And one of the biggest instruments of the devil is fear. So although fear does indeed exist, by committing to the World Race, and not just the Race but by committing to Jesus years ago, I have already made a very (yet again) stubborn decision to focus on advancing the kingdom, living with an offensive mindset, going after people, and telling fear that it doesn’t have authority over me. Instead, I have God-given authority over fear. I know God is in on this mission, I know He has called me, and I know He goes before, with, and after me and therefore I can as Proverbs 31 says, “laugh without fear of the future”.
Thank you for your prayers, thank you for your encouragement, support, love, and partnering with me. Please be praying that voices of praise, faith, and courage would rise up louder than voices of worry, fear, and doubt for our team. Love to you!
From the sermon:
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“There is a version of christianity that is alive in American culture that doesn’t require much ‘courage’. A cut and paste christianity…We can live a safe christianity. Like an extracurricular, an add on to an already busy life.”- Pastor Brickley
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“His plans meet us in our discomfort and that’s where the supernatural breaks through, but our legs have to follow into his plan.”- Pastor Brickley
A brief summary is as follows:
The pastor told the story of Moses. How he is sent on a scary mission to get Pharoah to let the Israelites go free. What could face him is death, but Pharoah starts noticing, God is on his side so that won’t work. After the poeple are set free, after they cross the red sea, after God feeds them manna from heaven, they still doubt. They find the land flowing with milk and honey and instead of agreeing with Caleb, who said “Oh yeah, we can take the land,” the leaders of their day immediately went into defense mode and said “We can’t attack them, they are way stronger than we are.” (You get the gist). So ultimately, the main point the Pastor brought up is that when Caleb says “WE” he means, us and God. But when the ‘leaders’ say “WE” they mean themselves, leaving God out of the equation. Through their fear they led the entire rest of the Israelites into confusion, panic and chaos, instead of leading them marching through and taking the land. So yes the statements are true, but I’m 100% sure God is in the equation and in charge of it, therefore I don’t have a biggest fear. I do however have anticipation and faith that what God wants to do will be done!
Story the Pastor went off of and you can watch the sermon by following the link.
Numbers 13:26-33
“We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey!Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”
Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”
But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”
Numbers 14-
That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud.All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness!Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?”And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”
Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will devour them. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”
But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the Israelites. The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among them? I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them, but I will make you into a nation greater and stronger than they.”
http://chapel.org/portfolio/brave/
