Fear and Encouragement

September 12, 2012

The Lord is SO good and faithful!

As we prepare for our trip to Ethiopia this October I found parts of myself overcome with fear of the possibilities... sickness, pregnancy, travel arrangements.

I have spent sometime meditating on Mark 4:19-25.  Where the father of the demon possessed child professes to Christ, “I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief!”  I have realized my need to openly profess my areas of unbelief and fear… and then wait for God to work in that particular area and increase my faith in amazing ways.

This week we (Adam, Taylor, Kavi and I) with some friends met with two refugees from Ethiopia for dinner, Saba and Teckle.  Saba is an amazing Chef and cooked for us.  She started a non-profit Taste of Hope (http://www.tasteofhopeworldwide.org/home) and cooks world class Ethiopian food for dinner parties and catering.  She and Teckle were so encouraging.  We really feel that after all these months of stepping out in faith that God is calling us to Ethiopia, He now instilled in us a passion for his people of Ethiopia and that can and delights to use us to answer the heart-felt prayers of Saba and Teckle for their homeland... for hope, for change, for Christ.  God is so beautiful and has revealed to us some of the way he unites people and uses each one of us to sometimes be a direct answer to other’s prayers. 

At the end of the night Teckle shared these scriptures with us: Psalms 3:3 and 37:3.

Psalms 3:3 But you Lord are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high!

            He is my protector even in the face of sickness, pregnancy and travels.

Psalms 37:3 Trust in the Lord and do good, dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.  Take delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your ways to the Lord and trust in him and he will do this.

           

God speaks that as we follow Him, we are safer there in His ways and in His leading than outside of it.  So why fear if we are walking with him?

God is good and encouraged all of us with a new passion for Ethiopia and the hope and release of fears to walk in HS leading.

Michelle