Let Me Be Frank… (confident)

Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”    Deut 31:6
 
“Do not fear.”
 
I like running out in the country.  It’s nice to get some fresh air and a good (albeit slow) run generally clears my head.  I live on the outskirts of town, but it still takes half a mile or so to hit the countryside.  My plan was to run to the water treatment plant and back that day.  There’s a huge dip in the road there and it’s blocked out for traffic now, but it opens up to some nice views.  And I was looking forward to those views as I came up out of the dip in the road and saw two stray dogs that were seated at the house. 
 
I wasn’t sure if they saw me so I started to run like a ninja.  I’m not sure what that looks like, exactly, but it didn’t matter.  The chase was on and they were barking pretty loud.  These were not the furry friends I was looking for. 
 
I outran them and looked back to see them slow down.  I was proud of myself as I continued my run.  But then I realized that I had to go back that way too.
 

“Courage lies just on the other side of confidence.”

 
Now I wasn’t confident that I could outrun those dogs again.  In fact, I was pretty winded from the first sprint.  So, I was relieved when I started down the dip in the road with no strays in sight.
 
And then, like a scene from Lion KingÔ, the stray dogs came into view at the bottom of the dip.  I was going to have to run through them in order to get home.
 
When someone says, “do not fear” we immediately think of life-threatening scenarios or deep-seated phobias (insert clown reference here).  But the fears we face are most often the voices in our heads…  “Am I good enough?  How do we navigate this?  What if they don’t hear me?”
 
But I love what Levi the Poet says, “Don’t forget that there are voices on the outside of your head, too, and they sound like futures and hopes and dreams and music and love.” 
 
It’s okay to be shaken.  It’s ok to be overwhelmed.  It’s even ok to be afraid.  But please remember that you don’t have to do this on your own.  There are so many people cheering you on.  And the God of Moses and Joshua is your God too.  And HE will not leave you nor forsake you. 
 
“Do not fear.”
 
Can’t wait to worship with you this weekend!
We are Central… and we’re in this TOGETHER! 
SOLI DEO GLORIA
-F