What are you afraid of? Spiders? Snakes? Close spaces? Speaking in public? Clowns (sorry that right now is not a good time for you)? We are all born with certain innate fears. For me, it’s heights and water. I don’t like being up any higher than a six foot ladder and I don’t want to be in water where I can’t see the bottom or land anywhere around. So put me in a high place over water and I’m done!

We all have fears that are deeper than those innate ones. What is it that produces enough anxiety and worry you have trouble sleeping? Where is it that fear paralyzes you or causes you to make irrational decisions? For many, it’s the fear of failing or not being good enough. For others it’s being rejected or abandoned and left all alone. It could be the fear of addiction or of losing one’s sobriety. Maybe it’s a fear about your marriage, your children, or your health. And I think all of us have a fear about the direction our country is headed and the upcoming election.

Do you know what the single most common command in all of the Bible is? You guessed it, “Do not fear.” Some say the command shows up 365 times –  one for every day of the year!  But ironically, the Bible also tells us to fear. That’s right, over and over it tells us to “fear God.” What exactly does that mean? Are we supposed to be afraid of God?

Think of it this way. What is the opposite of fear? Your initial response might be “courage.” If someone has a fear of spiders, put them in a room full of them until they muster up enough courage to overcome the fear. Right? Wrong! The opposite of fear is not courage – it’s TRUST. You see, it’s not the heights that are the problem. Is that I don’t trust whatever it is that is keeping me up at that height from letting me fall to the ground below. To fear God means to trust Him. And that fear is absolutely necessary because without trust in God we will never be able to overcome any other fear in our life.

So, how do we grow in our trust with God? I’m glad you asked! Two things:

– Know Him (Deuteronomy 6:5-9)

It’s hard to trust someone you don’t know. You’ve got to get to know God in order to trust Him. Spend time in the Bible. Search through it and find promises that speak directly to your fear. Pray. Grow in Him in groups with others. Have conversations with others about how they trust in God. Just get to know God better.

– Remember How Good He Is (Deuteronomy 6:20-23)

Your trust in God grows when you can remember how faithful He has been in your life. Even in the worst of times, you can appreciate God’s goodness. Take some time to make a list on a piece of paper of how God has demonstrated His goodness to you and how how faithful He has been to you. Do it today and I guarantee you will have a greater trust in God.

When my boys were learning how to swim, I would get in the pool with them (in the shallow end of course) and they would jump off the side of the pool into my arms.  They would be tentative at first and so I would stand close to the edge of the pool and gently encourage them. They would jump and I would catch them and then they would hustle back to the edge of the pool to do it again. And this time I would step back a little so they had to jump further out. They would again be a little tentative and would beg me to move closer but I would encourage them and they would eventually jump into my arms that were waiting to catch them. And they would do this over and over with me taking a small step farther out each time.  Why? Because they trusted me. They knew me and realized that even though their tentativeness grew a little each time, I hadn’t let them down before so certainly I would catch them again. And I did. And that’s exactly what God does for us.

Fear is absolutely necessary. Trust God. Get to know Him more and remember how good and faithful He has been to you!

It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Deuteronomy 6:13

Life has a great way of teaching us some very valuable lessons. For example, I learned at a young age that it’s not a good idea to feed a turtle out of your hand.  At a dumb age, I learned that it’s never a good idea (regardless of how large the dare) to pee on a hot wire fence.  I learned the fascinating way that you shouldn’t put aluminum foil in the microwave.  After I became a parent, I learned it’s not prudent to say “my kids will never do that” before you become a parent. And as a parent, I’ve learned that you should never tell your children things you don’t want other people to know.

Perhaps one of life’s great lessons that I’m currently learning is that it’s not necessarily as much about the destination as it it about the journey. In other words, it’s not just about where I want to be but the process of getting there and that the lessons learned along the journey are some of the most important to be learned. Honestly, the past three to six months have been a tough stretch for me. I want to be – THERE. But I’m – HERE. Have you ever been – THERE? I mean – HERE?

I’ve been reading through the story of how God’s people wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. A journey that should have only taken 11 days ended up taking 40 years. God please don’t make this journey I’m on last 40 years! I’ll take 11 days. Please and thank you! But what I’m discovering is that there were many valuable lessons that God taught them along the journey. It wasn’t as much about the destination as it was about the journey.

So, how do we make the most of the journey? Here’s some of what I’ve been learning:

Have a Picture of Where You Are Headed

God’s people were headed to the Promised Land. We are told multiple times in the story that it was a land flowing with milk and honey which literally means it was gushing with good things. They had been slaves in Egypt and they were now wandering in the wilderness but there was something much greater ahead – a land that was gushing with good things. Where is your promised land? What visions do you have? What dreams do you have? What goals do you have? It starts with a picture of where you are headed.

Stay Focused on Where You Are Headed

There were multiple times along the way God’s people lost sight of where they were headed. In fact, they often begged to return to Egypt. When they got hungry and thirsty in the wilderness they began to long for the good ole’ days when they had plenty to eat and drink back in Egypt. The problem was that the good ole’ days weren’t that good. They were slaves for crying out loud. But their present situation urged them to long for their previous situation and they lost sight of the promised land. Has that ever happened to you?

The next time you get in your car to drive somewhere, think about this (hopefully you are not driving while reading this!): Where do you spend the majority of your time looking while you are driving? Through the windshield or through the rear-view mirror? Of course you focus more on what’s ahead of you than what’s behind you! You occasionally glance in the rear-view mirror but you spend the majority of the time looking through the windshield. In the same way, it’s healthy to occasionally glance back at our past – it shapes us and is responsible for getting us to where we are. But it doesn’t have to determine where we are headed. We have to stay focused on what’s in front of us.

Pay Attention to the Landmarks Along the Way

Over 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, God sure did some incredible things. I mean, His people crossed through the Red Sea on dry land with the walls of the sea towering on either side of them. When they complained of being hungry, God brought them quail and rained bread down from heaven. When they were thirsty, they got water from a rock. They were lead by a cloud during the day which turned into a ball of fire at night – God’s literal presence. Those are some pretty amazing landmarks wouldn’t you say?

But I have to wonder if they missed it? I mean, the first few days you wake up with bread covering the ground has to be pretty awesome, right? But how many days did it take for it to just become the norm? Knowing that God’s literal presence is right outside your tent in a visible cloud and fire would be amazing, right? But at what point did it just become an expectation?

I have to wonder if I miss it at times? Where along the journey is God showing up and I miss Him? Where is He trying to teach me valuable lessons and I’m oblivious to them? Where is God working in your life right now – not in the destination but along the journey?

 

So whether our journey is 40 years or 11 days, may we have a picture of where we are headed, stay focused on that picture, and pay attention to the landmarks along the way!

I’ve been following the news this week as Matthew, a Category 4 hurricane, has taken aim at Haiti, Cuba and the Bahamas in the Caribbean and now threatens to barrel toward the coast of Florida and the entire eastern seaboard. I have watched and prayed with particular interest as it targeted Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Amy and I have been in Haiti on the southern half of the island where Matthew, the most powerful Atlantic hurricane in years, hit first.  As I see pictures of the damage left behind – the flooded landscape, the obliteration of the shacks that most people live in, and other buildings with rooftops that have been swept away – I have some sense of the devastation because of my time spent there.

I have been tuned into first hand updates courtesy of New Missions (www.newmissions.org) stationed in Haiti. Reports from New Missions indicated that some Haitians did not even know the storm was coming or how powerful the storm would be. It’s not like the United States where warnings give us ample time to batten down the hatches, stock up on supplies, or just get out of town. Those that did have warning, such as the ones New Missions works with, sought out safer ground and better shelter but are still left reeling with flooded rivers, wiped out roads, and devastated farmlands.  But others had nowhere to go.  They literally had to watch their shacks blow apart, gather up their kids in their arms and sit there fully exposed while the wind and rain pelted down on them and flood waters began to rise all around them.  Mercy.

New Missions has had a presence in Haiti for over 30 years under the banner “Hope in God.” They have built churches, schools and medical clinics providing children and their families with education, food and medical care so that they can grow strong and make an impact in a hopeless place. New Missions was there during the earthquake of 2010 – one of the worst humanitarian crisis in recent history – bringing hope in God. And they are there today after this most recent crisis continuing to bring hope in God.

We all confront storms in life from time to time. Some come without warning while we see others approaching from a mile away. Some are small and last only a little while and others are large and linger like unexpected house guests. Often times we can seek a safe escape but sometimes the only thing we can do is hunker down and ride it out.  But the one thing we can do in any storm is hold on to our hope.

I encourage you to be praying for all those in Haiti, Cuba, the Bahamas and along the eastern seaboard who are affected by Hurricane Matthew. Be praying that they would discover hope in God. I also encourage you to be praying for any of those around you who are going through a storm right now. Pray that they would find hope in God. And if it is you who is in the middle of the storm – hold on to that hope!

I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out – plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. Jeremiah 29:11 (The Message)