Fear of Man

Last week's weather was absolutely beautiful. I was helping Somer move and we totally slacked off a couple days and got a blanket and laid out in the yard. The weather was too nice to pass up. Thank God we got all the moving and packing done... I'm not even sure how it all came together, but it did.

I know that I'm totally copying Somer's post, BUT God has put something so heavily on my heart lately that I had to write about it. The past couple weeks I've been thinking about fear. God's been showing me that I have more fear in my heart than I want to admit. Fear of stepping out into the unknown with God, fear of man, fear trusting people... lots of different stuff.

Let me first address fear of man. I do not want to be a woman who let's other people's opinions of me dictate how I live my life. But, I think a lot of times, I am. Last week, some friends and I met a woman who was getting a ride with someone but the guy kicked her out because she didn't have money to give him for gas. My two friends brought her inside, prayed with her, encouraged her and then gave her a ride themselves. The gentleness I saw that they had with this hurting woman touched my heart. I saw two crazy, Christian boys step out of their wordly comfort zone and speak truth and love to this woman. As I watched them interact with her, I asked myself if I was willing to do that. If I was willing to look weird in the world's eyes for my God. I've been asking myself this since that day last week. Their example of Jesus is exactly what I want to be. Their tangible love is what I want to give. That message of hope is what I want to offer the world. BUT when it all comes down to it, am I REALLY bold enough? God, I hope so.

Okay so now fear of stepping out into the unknown with God. Honestly, I think that this, for me, is intertwined with fear of man. Because I am not afraid of anything God could call me to do. I'm not. The more radical and crazy the better. But, I let myself second guess that passion because of fear of what my family or friends might say about me. I settle for comfortable and safe. I hate that. I hate that I can be so easily persuaded by the world. I want so badly to see Christians (including myself) have REAL relationships with each other. I want honestly and transparency. I want truth. I want to love and be loved in spite of failures. I want to be surrounded by followers of Christ who are admittedly struggling with issues in their lives but their hearts are desperate for Jesus. So many times we feel like we cannot be honest with each other because of judgement. So can we just stop? Stop judging each other and start loving each other? Please?


Psalm 27:1
The LORD is my light and my salvation:
Whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?