Friday, March 15, 2013

No fear - the courage to face mountains

no fear in facing your mountains
Learning to surrender and trust God with the outcomes is not an easy thing to do in our need-to-know culture. We don't like not being able to plan it out. We want to know what is happening next. So when we reach a point of uncertainty, we start worrying. We get uncomfortable. We imagine all the worst possible outcomes. We become panicky. We might start making choices and decisions to get control of the situation. And many of us run off the path as soon as we can before we've learned what that experience was supposed to teach us.

Yet, Jesus told his disciples, "Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” But if you're like me, when you look up at that mountain you might start thinking about your fear of heights ;). All you can think about at the foot of the mountain is what it’s going to take to get to the top -- how strenuous and shaky the path will be, how much time it's going to take, how tired you'll be when you finish, how many opportunities there will be for something to go wrong. You'll forget about all the times you've done this before. And how strong and accomplished it feels when you've made it. Or how good it feels when you're on the top, fully present and connected to all of God's creation. How much it feels like this is the place you were meant to be.

Fortunately, even when we're too caught up in our own fears and anxiety to move forward, God gives us multiple opportunities to face our mountains. In fact, God reminds us that we don’t even have to climb the mountain. We can simply tell the mountain to get out of our way. That’s how much power we have when we believe and trust in God.

To walk in that kind of confidence, we have to understand that God is with us wherever we go. He never leaves our side. As David writes, "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."

Throughout the Bible, God continuously tells us to be courageous, strong, and still (at peace) because He is with us. In His presence we are covered, we are secure. He promises us that He will not fail or forsake us; we have His comfort; and that He will fight for us. What more could we really ask for?

A beautiful passage in A Course in Miracles says, "You can never be deprived of your perfect holiness because its Source goes with you wherever you go. You can never suffer because the Source of all joy goes with you wherever you go. You can never be alone because the Source of all life goes with you wherever you go. Nothing can destroy your peace of mind because God goes with you wherever you go." Lord we thank that you are always with us.  Because of your presence, we do not have to walk in fear. I pray that we are encouraged to live our lives in complete confidence in You, to know that all things are operating in our favor. Amen.

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