Extravagant Generosity

Exodus 23: 19

2 Corinthians 9: 6-15

Matthew 19: 16-24

Extravagant Generosity

 Jean Christy felt she was not doing enough for her church, so she called her pastor and asked how she might volunteer. She was a mere 104 at the time. She became the church's "birthday ambassador." She makes phone calls and sends cards to those who have a birthday. And this Sunday, she plans to celebrate her 106th birthday with a renewal of her baptismal vows. You are never too old to give to God.

A retired minister once remarked, “The last part of a person’s life that Christ seems to gain Lordship over is their checkbook.”  Jesus taught that we cannot love both God and money.  John Wesley counseled disciples: make all you can, save all you can and give all that you can.  A lack of generosity, Wesley believed, results in spiritual decline which in turn can lead to pride, greed and materialism which seriously undermines our love of neighbor and of God.

In the 1700’s Wesley spent much of his time preaching and working with the working poor.  England was close to civil war because of the growing gap between the wealthy and the working class, which was becoming less and less a middle class and more a class of working poor and poverty stricken. Those people were shunned from almost all churches of England, because they were not the kind of people the wealthier people wanted in their churches. They did not dress right, speak right, have the same manners, and simply were not sophisticated enough to sit beside someone of means. Further, they had to work all the time just to survive.

When Wesley took his message out of the churches and into the streets and fields and market places he knew first hand the living conditions of those to whom he spoke. He knew he could not just speak the good news. He had to give those people hope, and he had to give them a helping hand. But he did not just give them material things. He lived with them, ate with them, taught them how to manage what they had, helped them learn all kinds of practical things to make their lives more comfortable and fulfilling.

Wesley formed small groups of followers all over England who gave generously of themselves to help each other out, physically, materially, spiritually, and those groups brought new people into their circles to help them as well. Wesley’s small groups practiced risk taking mission in their outreach, radical hospitality, and extravagant generosity.  In reality, those small groups were very like what Bridges Out of Poverty works toward.: circling people in need with support to lift them up to be self sufficient and productive as God intends all to be.

Most historians agree Wesley’s movement kept England from civil war, because his efforts brought back a viable, sustainable middle class and that middle class had hope and could worship in their own way in their chapels that they built. However, Wesley was concerned that as those who had suffered achieved more, they would become complacent, materialistic, and begin to hoard their gains, instead of sharing as they had before. I think he would be appalled at our society today.

At the turn of the 21st century, the United States was home to 276 billionaires, over 2,500 households with a net worth exceeding $100 million, 350,000 individuals with a net worth of $10 million, and 5 million millionaires. Those numbers have increased in the past decade. Americans own approximately 40 percent of the world's wealth but comprise only 2.5 percent of the world's population. Incomes have gone up nine to 10 times in the last 20 years while giving has gone down about 50 percent. We are in an economic recession that is hurting people, especially those on the lower rungs of income. But the wealthy are becoming wealthier. Those 5.5 million billionaires and millionaires control most of our nation’s wealth, while the other 295 million Americans find it hard and harder to live on the remainder. The divide is looking more like England when Wesley began his movement.

Very few Christians come close to the biblical mandate to tithe, to return 10% of their blessings to God. And most Christians think a tithe refers only to money.

 As citizens of the wealthiest country in the world, how much do American Christians give? According to many articles and papers, believers are increasingly giving less. The average Christian in our country gives less than 2% of their income.  And out of every dollar given to a U.S. Protestant church, the average amount that goes to missions is two cents. In 1920 most churches gave 10 percent of the total offering to missions, compared to today’s 2 percent.  There are churches that pledge 10% and some strive to give 25% of all their income to mission work, locally and globally. Those churches thrive, but are few and far between. People give more money to lotteries and gambling casinos than to churches.

It has been found repeatedly over the years that a person’s giving to God is in proportion to their faith, and their spiritual development.  And giving declines as people's spiritual intensity and commitment to Christ decline. Intentional faith development is in decline in this nation, and churches that have fewer than half their congregation involved in intentional faith development are those who are beginning to decline or failing.

But giving and stewardship is not just about money. God wants more than our money in the collection plate. God blesses us with more than money. He gives us the very life we live, each second we take breath. And he calls us to give of that time as well. When we give generously of our time and capabilities in service to God, he works wonders.

Each of us has 168 hours each week of life. If we gave 10% of that to God it would amount to just under 17 hours a week we would be serving God by worshiping, working to strengthen our churches for service, and out in the community serving others who need God’s love. But if you take out of our 24 hours a day, 8 hours for work, and 8 hours for sleep? We have 8 hours of discretionary time, time to do what we choose to do. That amounts to 56 hours a week. What if we gave 10% of that time to directly serving God? It would amount to over 5 hours a week, every week to give time to bible study, serving others, worshiping, attending a church meeting or function. That is 260 hours a year. Can you imagine a church where half or more of their congregation members each gave 260 hours a year to God? Can you imagine what good could be done for their community?  Like giving of money, giving of time is often in proportion to faith.

Not everyone can suddenly give 10% of their income. What if each person giving increased the amount they give by just 10% over last year. So if they were giving $10 a week, they increased it to $11 a year. And they did that increase every year. In less than 10 years they would double their giving. Probably painlessly. And, I believe not all that 10% has to go to a church, but it should go to an organization that is working to serve God. Like UMCOR, where 100% of every dollar given goes to the need, nothing to administration or salaries, etc. Our apportionments already pay for that.

Becoming a Christian costs you nothing. It is a free gift of complete forgiveness, eternal life, and the Holy Spirit indwelling you permanently. The fact that it is free doesn’t cheapen this gift. It is free because we could never earn it, and it is precious because it cost Jesus his life. But it is genuinely free. He paid the full price, and all you have to do is admit you need it and humbly receive it. This decision is mandatory in the sense that you cannot be accepted by God unless you make it.
But accepting Christ as Savior is only the beginning. We are called to accept him as Lord, and give him generously of ourselves as well, by becoming obedient to his will. In the New Testament letter by James, he says faith without works is dead. Paul points out it is by our fruit they shall know we have faith.

Faith Development

Job 19: 25-27

Galatians 5:16-26

Matthew 13:31-33

Faith Development

Intentional Faith Development refers to all the ministries that help us grow in faith outside of weekly worship, such as bible studies, Sunday School classes, support groups, and prayer teams.  Congregations who practice Intentional Faith Development offer opportunities for people to learn in community for people at all stages of faith.  They offer ministries that help people grow in grace and in the knowledge and love of God.  Intentional refers to deliberate effort, purposeful action, and high priority.

Through the personal practice of Intentional Faith Development, we do the soul work that connects us to others, immerses us in God’s Word, and positions us to grow in grace and mature in Christ. We cooperate with the Holy Spirit in our own spiritual maturation.  We learn in community.  While I do believe it is possible to believe in Christ, accept him as Savior, and serve him without going to church, it is so much easier to do so within a community of others who are intentionally working to develop their faith, explore their doubts together, wrestle with the questions that come to all of us at critical points in our lives. We can do so much more together than alone.

What drives a lot of unchurched seekers and young people away from a church they visit for a few times is they see too many congregation members who are not growing in their faith, not engaged in groups who will deal honestly with the questions and issues they are facing in their lives. They see too many congregation members who come to church once a week and consider that ample time for God. Seekers are just that, seeking to learn about God, seeking to understand what God wants in their lives, and they come to a church hoping that by engaging  with others who are further along in their faith journey, they will find some support and answers. Instead they too often see an acceptance of the status quo, and often worse, a stagnation of faith, a lack of evidence that faith in God has any real relevance to life from Sunday afternoon to the following Sunday morning.

Young people want to be engaged in service, hands on missions locally, and sometimes elsewhere. They like to find new ways of doing the “old” things, new ways of worshipping, but also they want involvement. Examples of that are here in our own congregations, with Colby Childs and Kate Spence and their work in Honduras. But it cannot be involvement imposed upon them or involvement that means they have to do something the same way it has been done for the past many years.

Faith develops by opening ourselves to others in new relationships. Faith develops by sharing. Faith also develops by doing, taking risks in mission.

The common theme over time from the early disciples to those now who strive to help churches become and stay healthy, growing, and vibrant is people furthering and deepening a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Healthy churches that have a large percentage of adults who are furthering and deepening their relationship with Christ, who are growing and being intentional about faith development are the ones who are going to the next level of being the church of Jesus Christ. They understand the purpose of the church in making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. In Bishop Schnase’s language, they practice radical hospitality, intentional faith development, risk-taking mission and service, and extravagant generosity, and passionate worship. 

When we participate in a bible study or some other faith study we are not learning for the sake of intellectual curiosity or to be able to quote Scripture or appear to be scholarly. As we mature in our faith we grow in our love of God and our love of others, are able to weather the storms of life, be present for others, be faithful when circumstances raise doubts and know life is not just about us. Mature believers know it is okay to ask questions and to have doubts. Even more importantly, they know it is valuable to share those with others who are on a faith journey and growing.

We can all learn to practice radical hospitality just by deciding to meet someone new each week, and beginning a relationship of trust and caring with at least one or two new people a year.  We can all be intentional about our faith development by committing to attend at least one Bible study outside of Sunday School in the next 6 months, or starting a small group Bible or book study in our home, or gathering people together with shared interests with a devotion and prayer.  

We can even combine radical hospitality with this growth in our faith and invite our neighbors and new friends. We can ask “Lord help me to do what you are blessing – what would you have me to do?” We can set a goal that one year from now we will be closer to Christ, and we will have truly brought closer to Christ another person who does not now consider God as important in their life.

 Sometimes, though, we think of faith development as a real drudge in our lives when what really happens when we are intentional and committed is that our lives become better as we change to become new creations living out the fruit of the Spirit with a Purpose Driven Life knowing the answer to “What on earth am I here for?” 

It is important for us to be able to articulate what we believe through discussions, sharing our thoughts so that we know where we stand. If we never say anything or are always spoon-fed we can be lead astray or we will find it difficult be able to share our stories or lead anyone to Christ.

I hope that you all will be willing to continue your faith development by participating in at least one faith study this year because it is in listening to the questions and thinking about the answers together that each of us will find our own way of living out God’s purpose for our lives. And that is how this church will grow to be a vibrant, discipling church.

Amen

Risk Taking Mission

Joshua 22: 5

Romans 10: 14-15

John 15: 16-17

.Risk Taking Mission

This past week I spent some time lamenting a sense that as we had grown older we had lost that sense of adventure in life. That maybe we operated too much under the “what could go wrong probably will” approach to new things, resulting in avoidance of some activities that might have enriched our lives but in our infinite wisdom that goes along with experiences, we avoided.

The same thing too often happens in churches – what started out as excitement and adventure in starting something new eventually becomes routine and stagnant, yet a fear of changing creeps in. The tendency is to continue doing the same thing in the same way, despite the loss of enthusiasm by volunteers. “We have always done it that way”, or “We have never done this before” become ways of resisting any risk in something new.

Instead of words like vibrant, fruitful, and growing, words like safe, predictable, comfortable, certain, and convenient start to describe the church. Unfortunately, these words most often describe churches that are slowly sliding towards stagnation and eventual closure. The fear of risking money on something new becomes paramount too, especially as church attendance dwindles. The desire then becomes more to do quick and easy things that hopefully will put more people in the pews to help pay the bills. Some churches start to resort to fund raisers to keep the church alive. The need for fund raisers to pay routine operating costs is a sure sign the church is on life support.

Risk-taking refers to “extraordinary opportunities for life-changing engagement with other people with steps into greater uncertainty, a higher possibility of discomfort, resistance, or sacrifice. Risk-taking mission and service takes people into ministries that push them out of their comfort zone, stretching them beyond the circle of relationships and practices that routinely define their faith communities.” (page 87, Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations.) Risk taking mission is a direct extension of radical hospitality. They go hand in hand—where there is one, there will be the other.

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Now none of this is to say that what our churches have been doing is bad, or wrong. Our congregations do a lot of wonderful things. Seventy-six health kits, $1500 to tornado victims, donations that help provide emergency support to families needing some short term food or gasoline help, or help with paying an electric bill or heating bill—those are certainly mission work. Senior lunches and health checks are certainly a form of outreach that is a wonderful thing to do. Giving out school supplies at a community picnic is another wonderful outreach service to the community. Kids’ Night Out. These are things worth continuing.

However, the hard question has to be asked. “Is what we are doing actually making disciples for Christ for the transformation of our community?”  Other questions that need to be asked are, “How much of what we do is truly impacting the lives of those who really need to know Christ’s love?” and “What are we doing beyond the walls of our church that reaches the unchurched where they are, or are we waiting for people to come to the church to serve them?”

For example, what if the senior lunch were to be expanded into a open lunch for anyone in the community? What if the health check were to become a true Parish Health Check or Parish Nurse program, open to everyone? Parish means community, not a church. Those might seem to be risky steps to take, and more work, but perhaps it could touch more lives. What are the needs in the community around here that we could serve. What can we do WITH people, not just for them or to them? 

One of our problems is, before we devote time, energy, and especially any money to something new we too often want assurance of success.  Part of the “risk” is that trying new things doesn’t work a lot of times, or that the difference we make is something that we don’t see. We don’t know. We can’t see the results sometimes. But out of obedience to Christ, we’ve got to try. And we’ve just got to keep praying and trying. Our job is to try. It is up to God to do the rest.

And that is as biblical as you can get. It’s like the parable of the sower sowing seeds. There’s rocky ground, there are the birds that come and eat it all, there’s the hard soil, there are the weeds — there’s all of that. But the promise is that, by the grace of God, a harvest comes forth a hundredfold. But too often we give up after one or two tries.

Vital, growing congregations practice risk-taking mission and service because they love God and want to follow the teaching and example of Jesus Christ to bring his compassion, mercy and love to those who are not the most lovable, to care for the vulnerable, and offer grace to those who are least deserving. They see their resources as something God will use to change lives and to transform the world around them. 

Their church is a place which offers radical hospitality through invitation and inclusion, passionate worship and intentional faith development to make disciples of Christ who are equipped go out and serve in areas of justice, health care, immigration, environmental, addictions, violence, poverty, loneliness, advocacy. They are more interested in their sending capacity than just their seating capacity. 

Vibrant, fruitful and growing congregations don’t lament and moan about how somebody ought to do something. In the words of Jim Wallace, they believe “We are the ones we have been waiting for.” With the help of the Spirit, they serve with great sensitivity and respect for others as ministry is done with people not to them.

If we are Christians, if we truly believe in God’s Son, and have accepted him as Savior and Lord, then we are each a missionary. Each of us has opportunities each week to extend God’s love to someone else. Doing so sometimes involves risk. Jesus in his last words to his followers did not say, “Sit, and let the people come to you.”  He did not say, “Open the doors on Sunday morning and wait until new people show up.”  Nor did he ever say, “Stay safe in all you do.” Instead he said “Whoever loses his life for my sake shall have eternal life.” And, “Go, make disciples in all the world, and teach them all I have taught you.” If we are Christians, that is the operative word: “Go”.

Radical Hopitality

Deuteronomy 10: 17-19

1 Corinthians 16: 1-4

Luke 10: 38-42

Radical Hospitality #2

A couple of weeks ago Myrna and I sat and talked with an Amish man from over near Pleasant City. We had a long conversation, in which he told us his experiences with Lime’s Disease. If let go, Lime’s Disease becomes chronic and requires life-long treatment. He was misdiagnosed for over a year, because his was one of the first cases in Ohio. To get his treatments now he goes out to California on a train a couple of times a year. Now there are no Amish where he goes, so he was a stranger there the first times he went, and to be honest a rather odd looking one too in amongst the modern English there. {Some of us might look strange there too.}

What was fascinating is, his first visit out there he was befriended by a Catholic Bishop. This Catholic Bishop realized he was truly a stranger in a strange land and offered to drive him where he needed to go. They have become good friends. Each time this Amish gentleman  goes out there, they have meals together, he gets driven to appointments, and is treated like a true friend.

The Catholic Bishop had nothing to gain by befriending this man. There has not been an attempt at conversion. But there have been serious discussions over time now about God, Jesus, and faith. As a result both men have grown spiritually, both have gained respect for another person’s understandings of God, and both have broadened their understandings of God and God’s love.

The Catholic Bishop has been practicing radical hospitality. The act of going above and beyond to love others as God loves them. Doing something at great cost because it benefits someone else. Doing something without assurance of getting something back in return. Just as Jesus loved and served others with no strings attached.

On TV this week we saw another simple act of radical hospitality. This time by a young boy at a baseball game who caught a foul ball that was about to go into the hands of a much younger boy. The boy, who got the ball fair and square, without urging by anyone, turned back and gave the younger boy the ball. Simple, but an act of caring that touched the lives of so many who have seen it. The boy explained that it was because his parents had taught him to care about others.

Radical hospitality is not just coffee and donuts. It is not a greeter at the door. It is not a warm hello to someone visiting at church. It’s not a pot luck attended by church members, friends and family. It is not saying to someone, “Come to church sometime.” It is an orientation of our very being that sees everyone, inside and outside of church--especially outside the church--as a valued person of God.

It is a desire to share God’s love with everyone we encounter, not so much with words but by our actions, the way we live every day, the way we learn to see other people as God sees them. It is the desire to develop new relationships with new people so they will be drawn to Christ.

Radical hospitality is not just a “You should come to church sometime.” Or, “We are having a potluck next week, you should come”.  Those are not invitations. And more likely they will build resistance, not lower it.

Stop and think. If you were told by someone you hardly know, and you are not sure really cares about you, about an activity you know little or nothing about, held at a place you know nothing about, would you go? Alone, on your own? That is not an invitation.

Maybe we have been misled by scripture about what an invitation is, since Jesus seems to have simply asked those he wanted as disciples to “follow me” and they did. The example of Jesus walking along the shore and saying to Peter and…. Come follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.    What we sometimes forget is that Jesus was undoubtedly already known to these men, and in the Gospel of John we learn that some of them were followers of John the Baptist with whom Jesus already had a relationship. So this invitation from Jesus did not just come out of the blue.  He was extending an invitation to people who already knew him and he knew them. They were not strangers. They already trusted him, and knew he liked them for who they were.  They already had a relationship with him. Also, Jesus did not apply pressure, he did not beg. He was interested in them for their sake, not his.

So, how do you develop a relationship with someone that might finally get them to come to church? Over time, engage in conversation. Ask a question or two about them, to get them to tell you something about themselves. Listen to their answers and let them lead you into conversation with some nudges from you about what their interests are. Show genuine interest in them for who they are.  Leave as much of yourself out of the conversations at first as possible. Each time you meet pick up where you left off, get to know them a little better. Do not become judgmental about what they talk about. Jesus didn’t. Then maybe after several times of such conversation invite them to have coffee or lunch with you and mean it.  Pick up the tab. Open up a little more about yourself. Let them ask questions of you. Then perhaps several weeks later, offer to bring them to a church activity as your guest—a picnic, pot luck, musical group--something relaxed and more entertaining not requiring a lot of thought.. There introduce them to people and let them become comfortable with others too.

This all might take a year or more. But if you pray daily for the person, if you pray for the opportunity to develop that relationship, if you pray for God’s guidance as you speak and listen, if you learn to care about the person for their sake, no matter how different at first they may seem to you, you will find God is at work.

Not everyone Jesus invited accepted, even when they knew they could trust him. The work of God is not quick and easy, It took Jesus three years to develop a core of persons who could go on to spread God’s message throughout the Roman Empire. And in the end, he was killed for it. But those few transformed the world. And the transformation continues as relationships are built between those who know and love and serve God reach out to those who don’t. It isn’t God’s kingdom on earth yet. The continuation of the work has been left to us.

There is an interesting phrase in Psalm 62 that reads “One thing God has spoken; two things have I heard.” “One thing God has spoken; two things have I heard.” I kind of wonder if the call to love God and love neighbor can be seen like that: one word spoken by God and heard as two separate things to our ears, hearts and lives.

How do we develop a relationship with someone such that they might want to know about our Savior and Lord?   Loving God by loving neighbor; loving neighbor by loving God.

Fear

Genesis 3: 1-8

1 Peter 3: 13-14, 2 Corinthians 7: 5

Matthew 14: 22-33

Fear

Mark Twain tells a story in one of his books about his a visit to the Holy Land and a stay in Capernaum. It was a moonlit night, so he decided to take his wife on a romantic boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. Twain asked a man in a rowboat how much he would charge to take them out on the water. The man saw Twain's white suit, white shoes and white hat and supposed he was a rich Texan. So he said the cost would be twenty-five dollars. Twain walked away as he said, "Now I know why Jesus walked."

There seems to be no limit to our fears. In a peanuts cartoon strip Charlie Brown goes to Lucy for a nickels worth of psychiatric help. She proceeds to pinpoint his particular ‘fear’. “Perhaps”, she says, “you have hypengyophobia, which is the fear of responsibility.” Charlie Brown says no. “Well, perhaps you have ailurophobia, which is the fear of cats.” No. “Well, maybe you have climacophobia, which is the fear of staircases.” No. Exasperated, Lucy says “Well, maybe you have pantophobia, which is the fear of everything.” “Yes”, says Charlie, “that is the one!”

In the story of creation found in the Book of Genesis, we read where Adam and Eve had partaken of the forbidden fruit, something which had been specifically denied them. Knowing that God is searching for them, they attempt to hide. It is a scene perhaps reminiscent of many of our childhoods when we had done something that we were not supposed to and we literally hid from our searching parents. Finally God finds them, as we know that He will, for, after all, where can we go to hide from God? God asks them why they are hiding. Do you remember the response that Adam gave: “Because, I was afraid?”

I think this story reminds us that fear is so basic to whom we are as humans, it goes all the way back to the beginning of time. To be human is to experience fear.

Sometimes we feel like we are afraid of everything. We are afraid of ourselves. We are afraid of people. We are afraid of the future. We are afraid of the past. We are afraid of life. We are afraid of death.

“Do not be afraid.” The scriptures make this announcement over and over again. These are usually the first words out of angel’s mouths. Abraham, Moses, Mary, Joseph, shepherds tending their flocks, Paul sitting in a jail cell, the women looking for Christ’s body at Easter and disciples rowing a boat in the strong wind all hear these words. In all, these words occur almost 100 times in the scriptures. Apparently, humans are very fearful creatures and we are in need of faith to function properly in the world.

Every person, every Christian, must fight their own fears. Even Paul, the sturdy Christian warrior, had to do so. Paul had fallen flat on his face in Athens. He did exactly what he intended not to do, and in his own eyes he had failed. He wrote of his arrival in Corinth: “For when we came into Macedonia we had not rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings; within were fears.” Paul was full of fears, just like you and me--the fear of inadequacy, the fear of failing.

But perhaps the most surprising fear of many people and one that we do not like to address is the fear of God. It is the fear that God is not really on our side. It is the fear that God will put us out on a limb and leave us.

It is not a new idea. One of the great fears of the ancient people was that their gods would fall asleep. Can you imagine such a thing? When the prophets of Baal could not get their Gods to rain down fire on the top of Mt. Carmel, Elijah taunted them: Maybe your God is asleep, he said. On the other hand, the Jews took great comfort in the fact that the God of Israel neither slumbered nor slept.

Over and over again the message of the Bible is fear not. When Abram took his family to the Promised Land he feared that he was turning his back on everything he knew, his security for the unknown. God spoke to him: Fear not Abram, I am your shield and your reward will be great. When the Jews stood at the Red Sea and could see Pharaoh’s chariots coming on the horizon, they cried out that they would all be slaughtered. Moses said to them: Stand still, fear not, and see the salvation of the Lord. When the angel of the Lord came to Mary and said that she would bear a child, she trembled with fear. What would become of her? Said the angel: Fear not Mary, for you have found favor with God. Fear not! Fear Not! It is how we would like to live. How do you do it?

The disciples were afraid when they saw what seemed to them like a ghost coming toward them on the water. That seems like a very natural fear. I think I would be afraid too, out on a lake at night with the wind churning up large waves, and then seeing this thing approaching. But Jesus calms them quickly. And Peter suddenly has this bold bit of courage and challenge. “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.

Notice Jesus accepts the challenge.  “Come”, he says. And Peter begins to step out and walk, But Peter is too caught up in what he thinks is the reality of the situation. He realizes that he is out of the boat, over the deep lake, and this is something not normal at all. He lets his fear take over, lets the distraction of his surroundings overcome his faith and he takes his eyes off Jesus, and he begins to sink.

That describes a lot of us. We allow the distractions of the world around us take our minds off God’s will for us, and then sooner or later, we begin to sink and fear sets in.  But further on in the passage we read that Peter cries out “Save me”.  Jesus does, despite the weakness of his faith.

Courage is not the absence of fear, but it is living by faith and doing what is right in the face of distractions and what we think is reality. It is living in the reality of God’s promise that he will support us, even when we step out onto the deep. Our fears compel us to live irresponsible lives or prevent us from doing that which is responsible and from being bold in sharing our faith. We get caught up in the “What if’s” when we are faced with a challenge by God, and that leads to irrational fears.  Every irrational fear is based on a falsehood. We must pray for God to reveal what lies beneath the surface of our worries, our controlling fears and pray for victory over them.

One night a house caught fire and a young boy was forced to flee to the roof. The father stood on the ground below with outstretched arms, calling to his son, "Jump! I'll catch you." He knew the boy had to jump to save his life. All the boy could see, however, was flame, smoke, and blackness. As can be imagined, he was afraid to leave the roof. His father kept yelling: "Jump! I will catch you." But the boy protested, "Daddy, I can't see you." The father replied, "But I can see you and that's all that matters."

What we fear most is uncertainty, and in these times there’s plenty of uncertainty to go around. God wants us to fear the right things, but he does not want us to fear everything. He especially does not want us to fear trusting him, and that’s what can make all the difference for us. God wants us to know he is with us and for us.