What Are You Afraid Of?

Are you dreading something this week?  A conversation with an employee or a boss?  A presentation or a speech you have to give that you feel ill equipped for?

Or maybe it's something more serious.  Maybe you have a doctor's appointment that might bring bad news, or a funeral of a loved one.

I have several things this week that are making me anxious.  Or maybe I should say they WERE making me anxious until a couple of things happened.

The first is that I attended the Global Leadership Summit last week and heard several speakers.  One talked of going to a prison to offer forgiveness to the people who killed nearly every member of her family in the Rwandan genocide.    Another spoke of losing members of his staff who were killed by corrupt police officers while defending a poor taxi driver on the streets of Kenya.    A third discussed his work in defending the mentally ill, children and prisoners on death row.

Suddenly the things I was dreading become really really small in comparison.

The second thing that happened was singing a couple of hymns in church yesterday.  The first is very familiar and the second verse struck me.

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near;
Praise Him in glad adoration.

Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
If with His love He befriend thee.

I suddenly realized that God prospers my work and He will defend me.  And that He will give me the courage to face whatever I'm dreading this week....

Life takes courage.  Courage for the big things, and courage for the little things.   And God is calling those of us who are willing to stand and say "I'll go" .... regardless of where we must go or how anxious the situation makes me. 

And then we finished our worship yesterday with this song -- which if you have never heard you should listen to more than once.