Fear...

Fear is a funny thing.  I've been pondering the purpose and reality of fear over the past couple of weeks.  Many of the wonderful people I have in my life have expressed a concern about my safety in Ethiopia.  Many people have commented on the location of Ethiopia in relation to its surrounding countries, others have mentioned the possible sicknesses I could come in contact with, one good friend jokingly mentions the idea of pirates being close by.  Others wonder about the fact that I won't know anyone, or the conditions of the city I will live in.  Many of these things have crossed my mind, but that still hasn't caused me a bit of hesitation.  Some people might think that I am making a blind or unwise decision.  Should I let the fear of what could happen to me stop me from going?


Is fear a bad thing?  I think that many times it can be, but others times it can be an asset.  I guess what determines consequence of fear is what we do with it.  FDR said in his first inaugural speech about fear, "The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself."  Fear causes many people to shy away from adversity.  Fear causes others to give up instead of pushing on, and realizing the dream to which they are called.  To others, fear brings out courage.  Mark Twain wrote, "Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear.  Except a creature be part coward it is not a compliment to say it is brave."  One can not be brave without the presence of fear.


Now I will attempt to honestly answer the question, 'are you afraid?'  I would use the word fear to describe my overriding emotion.  However, it is not the fear that I will be in danger, or the fear that I will be lonely, or the fear that I might get sick.  Instead, it is the fear that if I don't go, I will miss out on what God has waiting for me there.  I fear many things in this world; I fear many things in accordance to my relationship with God.  I sometimes fear that He won't provide.  I sometimes fear that He will not come through for me.  I sometimes fear that I will lose someone or something I love.  But the one thing I fear the most, is missing out on God's best.  I wholeheartedly believe the scripture in Jeremiah 29:11 that says, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"  


There is another part to that scripture that many people leave out.  The scripture says in verse 12-14, "Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart.  I will be found by you."  Five years ago the Lord brought me to that scripture, and it became a life verse for me.  My prayer was that I would be able to seek God with all of my heart so that I could truly find Him.  That is still something that I strive to do to this day.  What I have come to realize is this, when you seek God, you sometimes have to go where He goes.  And for me to continue to seek God, I have to go where He is sending me, and that is Ethiopia.


So nothing that I may face there will compare to the joy I have in seeking and following the Lord.  So to reiterate the statement, am I making this decision blindly?  No.  I realize the dangers and I'm not afraid.  For if my God is for me, who or what can be against me?