All spring and summer I have been actively raising financial support so that I might be able to do this God-given dream! And now, what I have been praying for, hoping for and working towards is finally here!
I’m on my way, to Nairobi even as I write this! I’m sitting in a Starbucks in Amsterdam waiting to catch my connecting flight and head into the UNKNOWN. I’m not super clear on what I will be doing, where I will be staying, who I will be connecting with but this crazy faith journey has forged within me a courage I never thought I had.
I’m learning that even in the courage there’s a whole lot of SCARY too! I find myself asking questions like, “Can I do this? Am I up to this HUGE dream? What if I fall flat on my face? What if no one likes me? What if I can’t make connections?”
There is a lot of scary when we have a God-given dream, because it’s usually way too big for us. But then isn’t that where God wants us to be? – uncomfortable and dependent. Where there is weakness and inadequacy there is room for dependency and trust. There is freedom for Him to move and breathe in our lives making it possible for us to do way more than we ever dreamed possible.
Scary is uncomfortable! Scary is where we often quit. Scary has the potential to drive us to our knees or make us turn tail and run. On the road of Scary we will always come to a crossroad: will we give in to our fear and let go of our God-given dream or will we choose to trust in the One who gave us the dream in the first place?
In the wise words of “theologian”, John Wayne: “Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway!” Emma Donoghue said, “Scared is what you’re feeling, brave is what you’re doing.”
I’m discovering, courage is not the absence of fear but the fortitude to push past the fear and trust in the One who first stepped into scary for us!
We don’t have to fear because WE DON’T GO IT ALONE! We have the One who gave us the dream –emboldening us with the power of His Holy Spirit living inside of us. This power drives us to dream BIG God-sized dreams, and removes the power of fear that leads us to give up or to dream smaller, more socially acceptable dreams.
Look what Paul says, 1 Corinthians 2.9 . . .
No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.
We often see this verse used for our hope of heaven, but what if it is also what God wants to do in and through the lives of His children here on earth?
What if He wants to take our breath away even as we step out in faith and trust Him? What if we’re blown away by what He does because we’ve said YES to Him?
What if He’s just waiting for us to step into the scary to astound us with His glory?
Spilling His Grace,
kristi
Grace Spilled Over 