What are you afraid of?
I remember being afraid growing up. My folks live up on the side of a mountain in Northern Idaho, they have a house and a barn and two horses with a pasture that runs along the side of the hill. I can remember as a kids walking back from the barn after dark. The motion light would stay on for a while and then it would go dark. I would start to get that creepy feeling of the darkness closing in and something coming to get me. I would break into a run for the house and feel the relief flood over me when the motion light from the house would finally kick-on. There was just something about not being able to see where I was going and not knowing what could be coming from any where around me. I would get to the back walkway at the house and my heart would be pumping.
Fear continues to be a factor for me even today. Yes, sometimes the dark can still get to me, but more often it is the fear of the unknown in life's circumstances. I couldn't see how we were going to sell our house in the wake of 9/11, I can't see possibilities for getting out of credit card debt, I don't know where our next job will be, where we will move, how I will get past all of these apparent closed doors to a career. My heart starts racing again and I start running to job websites, turning in applications and sending out resume's like mad. The darkness of unknown circumstances can turn me in to a depressed grump to my family and a weary worship leader at church.
In John 14, Jesus has just told the disciples that one of them is going to betray him and that Peter will deny him. So Jesus begins the chapter with a promise, "Don't let you hearts be troubled, believe in God believe also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father's home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going." Well this just freaks the disciples out all the more, "you're going away? how do we know the way if we don't even know where you are going?" Jesus reassures them again, "I am the way." You know the way guys, you know who I am, you know my father, and even when I go away the Father is going to send you another companion, the Holy Spirit, and he will always be with you. It's going to be OK, you don't have to be afraid. Even though it looks dark and you can't see the way through now...it will be OK, I got you!
Jesus calls them to believe in him, and to follow his commands because that is how they will show that they love him. He promises them that he will give them peace of mind, that they can't get any where else. "The Holy Spirit will guide you he will remind you of the things that I taught you, you won't forget, you will remember and when you do..you will believe all the more that I am the Messiah."
What is it that you are afraid of? Is it something in your life's circumstances, is there something you don't understand about who God is or what he might have planned for you life? I believe that God has something planned for my life, but sometimes is it awfully hard for me to see what it is or how I am going to get there. I find my self needing to remember that God is already with me. I have the blessings of my family, he has given me the opportunity to study for this PhD, he has given me ministry and work with a great church, and I am even building my academic career through facilitating classes online. It's really not that dark right now, the light is all around me I simply need to open my eyes and let the Spirit remind me of what God is already doing in my life. When I do, I can breathe and I can believe.
May we all receive the peace that Jesus has to offer to us when we open our eyes to see the light of his work and his presence all around us.
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