The Upside to Fear

I still have to pack... Photo Credit: Creative Commons

I am racked with anxiety! 

There are just days before I leave for a missions trip to Guatemala.

I am not prepared.

Forget the packing, the funds, the logistics, this is about my heart.

I feel inadequate to the challenges ahead. Who will I minister to? What do I have to offer? Why would anyone listen to me? I have nothing to give!

Have you ever felt this way?

I remember feeling this way before becoming a mom for the first time. Then again when I was preparing to repeat that feat with the second child.

I remember feeling that way when I sat down to write for this blog the first time and then again before my book was published.

The Upside to Fear

This is not a freeze-in-your-boots-and-let-the-enemy-win kind of fear, but a check in your spirit to remember to be humble. There is a difference. Feeling inadequate to the task can be a good thing. It is our minds and hearts telling us we are not enough on our own.

How do I know? Because even Paul did not think he could handle something, and God said "My grace is sufficient."

"I begged the Lord three times to take this problem away from me. But the Lord said, “My grace is all you need. Only when you are weak can everything be done completely by my power.” So I will gladly boast about my weaknesses. Then Christ’s power can stay in me. Yes, I am glad to have weaknesses if they are for Christ. I am glad to be insulted and have hard times. I am glad when I am persecuted and have problems, because it is when I am weak that I am really strong." 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 ERV

I am not anyone special. I have my own set of issues: I have a short fuse, I am overweight and I bite my nails too often, just to name a few, but God, who is more than able to answer any need, to mend any hurt, and to free anyone, is bigger than my shortcomings and weaknesses. He is more than enough in every situation.

Job, who's life fell apart bit by bit in a matter of hours, refused to doubt the greatness and goodness of God. If he can have faith in the most dire of circumstances, I can trust God as I travel to a country in my own hemisphere.

I may not know what the future holds, but as the old song says, " I know who holds the future!"

"For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11 NLT

So when I go and the task seems to great I will remember the words of Peter: "silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give unto thee"!

Join the Conversation: 

Have you ever felt to little for the task? What was your situation like and did you see God's grace in it after it was all done?

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