How much of our time would be freed up if we weren’t afraid?

Fear has a way of stopping us in our tracks. It has a way of preventing us from a whole lot of things especially from moving forward in the fullness of God. We hear from God’s messengers in Scripture to fear not. Fear is one of those things that gets in the way on our faith journey.

¹God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

²Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,      ³though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. ⁴There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. ⁵God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. ⁶Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. ⁷The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.  Psalm 46: 1-7

God called Moses to cross the pasture which he was familiar with and approach the Mountain where he would encounter a burning bush, Moses’ first responses with fear: fear of failure, fear of not being enough, fear of how people will respond, fear of the unknown. Out of fear, Moses begs with God to please send someone else and let Moses keep living his quiet and comfortable life. God calls Moses beyond his fear, recognizing that these are indeed scary things but assures him that he will not be alone.  When the Israelites heard from Moses what God was going to do, they too responded with fear. Because as much as they wanted freedom, the risk and uncertainty was frightening. Fear is a reality of life and something that we all have in common, it impacts our decisions and makes us anxious. God asks us to fear not to decide what we will do with our fears, to decide if we will let them hold us back or if we will hear the call of God on our lives and ministry and follow Jesus into that unknown.

If we let go of fear, we would reach out to that person we haven’t talked to in a while. If we let go of fear, we would tell someone we love them. If we let go of fear, we would talk about our faith with our friends and strangers. If we let go of fear, we would try something new that we might fail at. If we let go of fear, we might try something new. What would you do if you weren’t afraid? In my case, answer the call to move to Geneseo to begin a relationship with a loving church, look for the opportunities where God is leading.  June is filled with these opportunities to celebrate the newness of life in Christ. As we welcome our confirmands on the 5th at the 10:30 service, as we celebrate the children on the 12th with one service at 10 am and a picnic following, and welcome Linda Myer who will be baptized on the 26th.

Let us rejoice that God loves us, and trust in God in all things, especially our fear.

May you find many blessings this June.

Pastor Beth