Remember when I used to write things? That was nice.
Between paperwork, our homestudy, long trips home, piles of paperwork, and those other three kids I have, there hasn’t been much time for writing, must to my dismay.
I’m making it a priority today, for my own sanity.
This weekend, after rolling into town at 10:30 at night, unloading the car, feeding my kids a really late dinner, and getting them to bed…I had to wake up to teach elementary age kids in our churches kids ministry.
My heart was not exactly joyful about waking up super early for this.
Not to mention, my last two lessons have been Job, and how Mary gets impregnated with Jesus.
Despite my bad attitude, God had a message just for me, while I taught the kids about the angel appearing to Mary.
The angel, when he appeared said “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” Luke 1:30 That seems to be a common theme among the angels…proclaiming “fear not”!
It makes me think that we must have a lot of fear. And that the things that God calls us to, are often things that can cause fear.
As we begin the advent season, I’ve been thinking a lot about Mary. How she must have been afraid…afraid of the angel, afraid of the news, afraid of how to explain what happened to friends, family, and her fiancé….afraid for her life. Yet she trusted, and had hope.
God calls us to things that require faith. Faith means facing fear.
I love that over and over throughout the bible we are commanded to not be afraid.
When the angels come to the shepherds: “Fear not, for I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” Luke 2:10
When He makes a covenant with Abraham: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” Genesis 15:1
Before he gave Joshua victory at Jericho, and made him a great leader: “Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9
God to Israel in exile: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” Isaiah 43:1
The one I’m clinging to during the adoption process: “Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the eat and from the west, I will gather you.” Isaiah 43:5
These are just a few places we are commanded not to fear…there are literally hundreds more.
I’ve read a couple different places (not sure of the original author) that the opposite of fear is faith.
I love that before God calls us to things that requires faith, He reminds us to not be afraid. Because, I think He knows we will be. I also find it interesting, that every proclamation of “fear not!”, is followed with good news or a promise. We don’t have to be afraid BECAUSE of His promises and good news.
I’m still early in this adoption process, and yet I’ve already had to face a lot of fears. Fears of changing my family dynamic, fears of not being a good enough mom, fears of not being able to do it all, fears of how we are going to pay for it, and more.
Thankfully, as I try to fight off these fears, or another one surfaces, God keeps whispering to me “do not be afraid,” in some unique ways.
Like when we had our first homestudy appointment with our social worker to check out our home (and us!). Not only do we happen to have the most precious case worker ever, she *just happens* to have been in Ukraine (where we lived for a year), and is very good friends with missionaries we worked with there.
Like when I was panicking about all the documents we needed notarized and apostilled (the dirty word of international adoption I’ll explain later), and we found out one of our good friends is a notary and has a notary seal that doesn’t expire for several years (another weird thing about international adoption).
Or when we HAD to get some documents, and needed to take care of fingerprinting in St. Louis. We found out while we were driving up, that they were supposed to make the announcement about the Michael Brown case the week we were there, right where we needed to go (by the courthouse). They hadn’t made the announcement yet Monday morning, so after lunch we busted a move over there. On our way our phones started lighting up with texts and calls that they would be making the announcement in a few hours. We pressed on. Road blocks were set up when we reached the area, but thankfully my husband was able to drop me off to run in the building to get our marriage license. The parking lot across from the building was where all the news crews were assembled and waiting, with a few protestors hanging around. I was in and out of the building with our certified marriage certificate in 15 minutes (a government building!!!), despite the intense questioning on my way in.
As we pulled away they blocked the road we had been on. While my husband had been circling the block, he had *just happened* to find convenient public parking, with space for us to park, nearby where we needed to go. We grabbed all three of our kids and walked past buildings being boarded up and felt the tension thick in the air. When we walked up to the police department, we were greeted by an impassible barricade, lots of police tape and no officers in sight. We weren’t giving up. I called in. Apparently there was a super secret entrance on the side. So we looped the building a couple of times in frigid temps with three kids, but finally made it into the police station. We made it to fingerprinting and waited in a room where we were more than a little out of place. Without too long of a wait, we got ushered into where they do the fingerprinting. As we sat waiting, we heard the clerk tell someone on a phone call that they had decided to shut the building down early…in 15 minutes. We were probably some of the last few people to get fingerprinted that day, and I doubt many people braved the protests to go the rest of the week. The kids got little junior badges we allowed them to wear for about 5 minutes before removing them as we walked outside. We were in and out in about an hour, and had no issues other than a defined tenseness in the air. Each hurdle we needed to pass through, God opened doors, and whispered “do not be afraid”. We FedExed the papers out the next day.
As we got closer to home after our trip, this overwhelming feeling of all the things that needed to be done started sitting heavy on my chest. We grabbed Chinese takeout dinner 10:30 at night after a long trip, and God sent me this fortune and reminded me what I was fighting for.
It seems over and over the angels, and God are having to remind us not to be afraid. I think a big part of this, is because God calls us to scary things. It’s a chance to build and grow our faith. To rely on Him and let Him show He’s there…no matter the circumstances. Maybe He’s calling you to something scary right now, or you’re in the midst of doing something scary right now. I feel ya. Trust Him. Don’t be scared. He will open doors, roads, connections, and even fortune cookies to remind you that He is there.
Do not be afraid.
Faith is the opposite of fear.