There it is again. A deep, unsettled feeling creeps into my
soul, wrapping itself around my heart.
The truth is, stepping into God’s purposes scares me. The
vision is so grand that is seems vastly out of reach. It’s global, foreign and
unknown. The unknown has never seemed like a wanted companion, especially when
it affects the little lives I want to protect more than anything in the world.
A fear that God might call us to take big steps towards
something later down the road can often paralyze us from making small,
meaningful steps in the present. What if we start praying for the unreached? Will
that mean God will one day call us to go to the unreached? If I teach my
children about God’s love for all people, will that one day lead them to take
risks for the Kingdom that an “ordinarily safe” life would never require them
to take?
Embracing God’s purposes, His heartbeat to be enjoyed and
worshiped by all peoples, is a process. A child must scoot before he crawls. He
then learns to take a few wobbly steps, hands still raised for support, before
he learns to walk and later run. Once he has learned to run confidently,
earlier fears are erased. All that remains is the pure joy and exhilaration of
the adventure before him.
The children in our lives are watching us, learning from us.
They are waiting to see if we will choose to scurry into a corner and hide from
fear or if we will take bold, even if small, steps forward toward those fears. It
is okay if we must first crawl before we learn to walk confidently. What matters
is our children seeing us as people who use our fear to press into Jesus and
fuel our passion to serve Him wherever He may lead us.
Be encouraged, even in your fear. We do not have to face it
alone. Together, we are stronger. We can remind each other daily of our shared
vision, both to see Jesus worshipped by all peoples and to see a generation of
children loving and following Jesus all the days of their lives.
We at WEAVE are praying for you, trusting Jesus to do big
things both in and through your family as you obey His voice saying, “Do not be
afraid, for I am with you.”
