Where To Lord?

 

              I read about a seventy-four-year-old widowed, woman who decided, after much prayer and nudging from God to move from her home in Pennsylvania to Texas due to an invitation from her daughter.  The woman was horribly nervous about the move.  She’d lived in Pennsylvania half her life, married and raised her children there, and couldn’t imagine herself uprooting all she’d known for such a drastic move.  She was comfortable in her church family, her town and friends, and held back in fear of making a big mistake.

            Praying about the situation she asked herself, “Is there a valid reason to even consider the move?”  She said she heard the most distinct whisper, ‘to flourish.’  Yet the ‘ghost of fear’ invaded her thoughts, feeding her mind with doubts and nagging questions with a vice grip.

            Still she remained in prayer, asking God to lead her. The whisper of the words, ‘to flourish’ continued to also creep in and ultimately would override the negative vibrations haunting her. Matthew 19:26 also planted itself in her mind, “With God, all things are possible.” She felt her fears melt away, and also recognized how many other blessings she might have missed over the years, because fear kept her one step away from doing the ‘unlikely!’

            Fear has a way of crippling and tripping us up on those decisions we aren’t sure we should make, when we look at the picture we can see.  Our vision is narrow.  We can’t see the whole painting. I can recall times in my own life where fear kept me from moving forward.  There is the fear of failure --- or success, the fear of disappointing those who counted on me, the fear of rejection, of being inadequate and just not good enough, of being judged unfairly, embarrassment or being shamed, and even the fear of expressing my true opinions.  

            That’s a lot of fear right there!  It’s easy to see why people hesitate to start a new career, change jobs, start relationships and even do something which simply brings them joy—like taking a long hike by themselves, painting or playing music (or singing in the choir!).  There are so many ways we hamper our God given gifts and tie our hands behind our backs in a defeatist attitude!  I’m guilty!  I have done this!  

Is it not sinful to allow this to happen?  If you don’t want to go so far as to call it a sin, isn’t it sad that we’ve allowed fear to cause us to miss so many blessings, had we just tried and allowed God to manifest himself in us so we could touch another person’s life in a very positive way?

            What, then, are we to do? Some would say confronting our fears is the first thing to fight the battle.  While I agree that’s important, I believe claiming God’s promises should be first and giving these fears to God, much like the widow spoken of above.  The Bible is filled with them!  As we claim these promises, we will find our faith growing.

            In our growth, we will likely see, we are able to reach out to others in need.  This ‘look beyond ourselves’ is a way to be an ambassador of God’s love and generates a balm for misery of almost any kind!  This ‘touch’ of ministry can grow us into where God wants us to be!  What a gift! 

            I urge you to call of the Creator of the Universe to help you turn your fears into victories and watch the unlikely places God will take you.  Enjoy the journey!