In a couple of day we will begin a journey going through the Max Lucado book, Fearless. Dealing with a family member the other day discussing the physical decline of her mother, I used the very lesson we will discuss this Thurday: finding the peace of Christ in the midst of the storm. I hope we all don't expect a storm in church this week, but we may have begun to sense a fear of things like, "What if I don't fit in?" or "What happens if I break down and cry in front of others?" or "What if they don't like me?"
Twenty-nine years ago this August I was facing the same doubts and fear. I was a twenty-seven year old hitch-hiking to Rhode Island to start college for the first time. All I had were two duffle bags with clothes and about twenty dollars in my pocket. I got dropped off on I-95 in the Bronx and the houses over the side of the highway were like those barns Lucado speaks about in Chapter 1. I asked God for another ride and sat there for three more hours watching the sun sink toward the western sky and soon coming darkness. I began to pray, "Lord, Send me a Christian! Someone who lets me know I am here because you want me here and not of my own accord." Shortly someone pulled over and picked me up and took me to Stanford, CT. I stuck out my thumb and a car pulls up--with a large Bible on the front seat and Christian material in the back--Jay Orvis, who brought foreign Christians to study in the United States. He took me home and fed me after introducing me to his family and a couple from Israel. Amazed? So was I!
If you starting to wonder about the class-STOP. Don't let fear stop you from being fearless. Pray for God to impact you these next ten weeks like he did for me so long ago. The end of the story is this--if I had not gotten a Bachelor's degree then, I could not have entered seminary years later when God called me out of the hotel industry into vocational ministry. I had learned to trust God more by that time but it was still a struggle leaving.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
Twenty-nine years ago this August I was facing the same doubts and fear. I was a twenty-seven year old hitch-hiking to Rhode Island to start college for the first time. All I had were two duffle bags with clothes and about twenty dollars in my pocket. I got dropped off on I-95 in the Bronx and the houses over the side of the highway were like those barns Lucado speaks about in Chapter 1. I asked God for another ride and sat there for three more hours watching the sun sink toward the western sky and soon coming darkness. I began to pray, "Lord, Send me a Christian! Someone who lets me know I am here because you want me here and not of my own accord." Shortly someone pulled over and picked me up and took me to Stanford, CT. I stuck out my thumb and a car pulls up--with a large Bible on the front seat and Christian material in the back--Jay Orvis, who brought foreign Christians to study in the United States. He took me home and fed me after introducing me to his family and a couple from Israel. Amazed? So was I!
If you starting to wonder about the class-STOP. Don't let fear stop you from being fearless. Pray for God to impact you these next ten weeks like he did for me so long ago. The end of the story is this--if I had not gotten a Bachelor's degree then, I could not have entered seminary years later when God called me out of the hotel industry into vocational ministry. I had learned to trust God more by that time but it was still a struggle leaving.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
