Teenagers! The word alone often strikes fear in the bravest hearts, but for my husband, a high school Algebra 2 teacher and youth pastor, they were no big deal.
Fear struck, however, when our church asked him to be the children’s pastor. Yes, children are small in stature, and many have only begun their spiritual journey, but these little wonders posed a giant threat to the man who’d shepherded and taught only our children.
After seeing giants in Canaan, ten of the spies returned with a bad report. Quickly, their apprehension spread fear. “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” The bad news spread like wildfire. Had they forgotten what God had already done? The Israelites wanted to return to Egypt. They trusted in the words of men who had seen the people living in their promised land.
When fear overcomes us, we often want to return to the familiar, even if it’s not good for us. We choose to trust in what we can see and what we believe we know. It takes faith to believe the promises of our unseen God—the One Hagar called, “The God who sees.”
At first, my husband wanted to return to youth ministry. His experience leading teenagers made him comfortable, but God wanted to do a new thing in our lives. We settled into the saddle of the challenges of children and reaped giant-sized fruit for several years.
Giants are big and problems are big, but our God is bigger. It takes faith to step into the unknown. Recounting the things God has done in our lives shatters fear and builds faith. Our challenge is to move past our fear and forward into our future, trusting God knows and sees what’s ahead of us.
Tell your fear to flee and go where God leads. Don’t miss your promised land.
(Photo courtesy of pixabay.)
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Jennifer Turbeville is a loving mother who enjoys time with her husband and three young adult children. She is a brain tumor survivor with some long-term effects and challenges, which have taken away some of her musical hobbies. Now, she enjoys writing, painting, and doing crafts even more. Painting birds on bird houses is one of those fun and relaxing crafts. She is a substitute teacher and volunteers in ministry at her church.