Fear or Faith

. . . . . or some might like to call it stupidity. :0)

(These pictures belong to my brother . . . please don't take them without permission.)
 

7:31 pm on Sept. 20th.



My family has devotions together every morning from 7:30 to 8. On the days that I would run, I would head out right afterwards, but I needed to make some changes in my schedule. The best solution seemed to be to get up a few minutes earlier and get my run in before family devotions. So that was the plan for this morning. As 6:30 rolled around I noticed that it was still really dark outside (how quickly the days get short!) . . . and I started to get a little concerned. (We live out in the country, and there are wild animals out there . . .) So I googled the sunrise time . . . 7:22!! I started to wonder if I should really go for a run. I mean, we've all heard stories, right? And we've even got these nice pictures, taken right on our property, in these last few weeks. The cougar has been twice!



I mentioned my thoughts to my Dad. He reminded me that Jesus is the Light, that I didn't need to fear anything in the dark, and to trust Him for protection. So off I went, claiming Psalm 91 as my own and trusting God to protect me.



10:40 pm on Oct. 10th.



As I ran I thought about David, and how he faced that lion and bear so victoriously. I thought about his mighty men. How different ones did things that some would say were stupid - like jumping into a pit to kill a lion, or single-handedly fighting off 300 and 800 armed men. The stories are amazing!!

I also thought about to my college years. I live in Oregon and went to school for two years in New York, so I did a bit of flying. I remember one flight where I was sitting there thinking, "Wow, these people (on the flight with me) are so lucky - and they don't even know it! - this plane is not going down, because I am on it and God has a plan for me." I've thought back to that over the years and thought about how arrogant I was! But now I'm not so sure that it was total arrogance. I think I had a touch of that unshakable confidence in my God . . . . like David and his mighties. It seemed I had that same confidence while working in NYC as well . . . but out here in the boon-docks, for some reason, it hasn't been so easy to come by!

My job as a Christian is to believe that God is everything that He says He is and to prove that He is my all in all. I don't ever want fear to stop me from doing what God calls me to do. Psalm 91 is not just pretty sounding poetry. It is truth! If I stay in the shelter of His wings (abide in Christ) then I am safe and I have nothing to fear.

Thank You, Abba! :0)