Once, there was a girl who
was afraid. She was afraid to share her faith. She loved people and loved when
they loved her and she was very afraid that disagreeing with anyone would make
them hate her.
She was also afraid of bugs.
And snakes. And all creepy-crawly creatures. She was afraid to fly on airplanes
and spent the whole flight imagining the moment when the plane would surely go
crashing into the ocean.
She was afraid of being poor
and afraid of being uncomfortable and afraid of being a mom someday. She was
afraid of failing and of looking stupid, and worst of all, of failing and
looking stupid in front of people she loved.
Doesn't sound like the
perfect personality assessment of a missionary sent to the middle of the
African bush, does it?
Spoiler alert: The girl is
ME.
When God got ahold of my life
He began to take off the layers of fear that swaddled me in a protective
cocoon. He didn’t SIMPLY take my fear away, but he began to allow me to see
past it. He spoke to my heart about something that would make me continue to
stand in spite of the ungainly garments of fear that kept me from moving
freely. He impressed on me the importance of OBEDIENCE.
“By faith, Abraham, when called to go to a place he
would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed
and went, even though he did not know where he was going.”
-Hebrews 11:8
I am still amazed that God uses
a simple yes to break down walls and barriers and to establish His name in the
nations. I have seen Him do it. I have spent the last 9 years in the bush of
Africa with a yes on my lips. Sometimes, when I am singing, dancing and
clapping in a tribal language with the indigenous Zambian people that I love, I
am shouting that “YES” in freedom. Sometimes, when the electricity goes out
again, and the water is hauled in buckets, and the bugs are overwhelming, and
the money is not enough, my “yes” is spoken through clenched teeth. There are
also the times when the baby is sick, or there is a snake on my path, or a
witchdoctor with a threat. Those are the moments when that same ‘yes” is
whispered in fear. There are seasons where I am unsure of myself. Unclear about
my assignment. Unimpressed with my own
vision.
But I KNOW that I know that
when we walk in simple obedience to the Lord, He makes a way for us that is
more beautiful than we could have imagined. And that knowing encourages me to say YES. More. And with greater confidence
[in Him].
We are once saved, once
justified, once redeemed. But we have the opportunity every day to say yes to
His leading in our lives. Getting out of practice will quickly leave us in a
place of doubt and confusion. Too much hesitation will begin to bind us back up
in those garments of fear that have no place on our shoulders.
So my encouragement to you
today is this: Let us, together, obey and GO.
Even when we don’t quite know
where we will end up. Go to your friends. Go to your neighbors. Go to the
nations. The fruit will be more abundant than you could ever imagine. And your
fears will begin to crumble at your feet.
