Fear

Fear limits us. Let's face it. It's a significant restraint. I'm one of the worst people at doing things that make me afraid. I love my comfort. I love taking the back seat. Things very easily make me uncomfortable.

        My one friend seems to be the opposite and jumps at a chance to do anything for a dollar or a laugh. I guess its one thing that makes it good for me to be around him. One time I was at a coffee shop with him and my dad said he would give him twenty dollars to talk to any girl in the coffee shop for five minutes. Well he first offered the bet to me, but when I refused he asked my friend. Five minutes is a long time! But he gave a quick glance over both shoulders and said, "OK." There were two girls sitting at a table in the corner, and he held a conversation for five minutes. It was pretty funny, but mostly just made me squirm in my seat.
        If fear is a problem in your life, I would consider facing it. The important thing is not to be afraid of failing. Failing most of the time does not cost anything significant. If you have a fear of girls, ask the next girl you see on the street to marry you. If your afraid of being in front of people, get up there and sing a solo. Life is better spent that way. Everyone loves and respects people who try. Find out that you are allowed to fail. Then you will be able to live life with less limiting you.

Go

Let me share a part of a book with you that I recently read in a book called "Radical" written by David Platt.

               "I remember when I was first preparing to go to Sudan, a nation impoverished by years of civil war. The trip was going to cost me around three thousand dollars. It wasn't easy to travel into Sedan since they were still at war, and we would have to charter a plane and spend a few extra days to make that happen. I remember one dear lady in the church coming up to me and asking, 'Why don't you just send the three thousand dollars to the people in Sudan? Wouldn't that be a better use of money than you spending a week and a half with them? Think of how far that money will go.'

                I wrestled with that question. Was I wasting these funds in order to go when I could simply give the money instead? Should I even be going? I continued wrestling with that question until I got to Sudan. There I had a conversation with Andrew that shed some light on the question.

                 Andrew was sharing with me about his life in Sudan over the last twenty years. He had known war since he was born, and he described facets of the suffering and persecution his people had been through.  He described various groups, most of them government or secular organizations, who had brought supplies to them during that time, and he expressed thanks for the generosity of so many people.

                 But then he looked at me and asked, 'Even in light of all these things that people have given to us, do you want to know how you can tell who a true brother is?'

                I leaned forward and asked, 'How?'

                He responded, 'A true brother comes to be with you in your time of need.' Then he looked me in the eye and said, 'David, you are a true brother. Thank you for coming to be with us.'"

                This story hit all the right notes for me. Human beings were not created to sit, make money, and give tax deductible donations to specific causes. It's a great notion, but not for me. I am obsessed with the real, the raw, the dangerous. I am a firm believer that the deepest need in human beings isn't tangible but spiritual. Above all I want to understand. To share others grief. To learn true struggle. To find true joy. My life has to mean something when I die. When I'm in heaven a jacket I gave won't mean as much as a life I touched. To "go and make disciples of all nations" is a command, not an option to be debated upon. When I go and serve, it changes my heart, my priorities, and accesses my soul. That is something that's laid up as treasure in heaven. 

                 Commit a goal to support an international injustice. Whether that means to go, to donate, to encourage, or to raise awareness, it's something God meant for you to do. If done with a glad heart, it will be rewarded. I promise. God promises.