My One Fear

The Lord has put it on the hearts of our church leadership that we should each actively seek (through prayer) one person to bring to Christ over the next year. I made a commitment to God that I would follow through on this mission for His sake, even though it scares me to death. But if I truly have faith in God, why should I be scared?
As I learned in the course of my Beth Moore Bible study, Esther, "do not be afraid" is the command that appears most often in the Bible. But this is probably the hardest command for me, and probably a lot of people, to obey. We are a bunch of control freaks walking around this earth, asking God to do this and take care of that, but then we worry and fret and hold back, not doing the things that we know we should do because we are afraid.

Afraid of what?!

Am I afraid of what other people think? Of what following what I am called to do will cost me? Afraid that I am misreading what the Holy Spirit is guiding me to do? Afraid of failing God?
YES, YES, YES, and YES!

But then, I stop and think it through...Who, of those people that I am afraid of, can save me? If I don't follow Him, and don't do what I am called to do, then what's the point of my life? If I misread what He is saying, do I really believe that He will move on and guide someone else to do it instead? And finally, if God lets me fail, then what kind of God am I worshiping and do I even have any faith at all?

The truth, as I try to remind myself when the Devil creeps into my thoughts, is this...I was made in God's image, to lead people to Him, and not only will I not fail Him, He will not fail me.

The card that I drew for this commitment to Christ is a tough one. I have doubted several times that I "read" the card right. But, each time I have brought my doubts to the Lord in prayer, this person has randomly shown up in my life again. It has strengthened my faith so much that I believe that this mission is just as much about my growth as it is about bringing my "one" to Him. I am still scared, but I see the Lord working to chisel away at this fear piece by piece. And to see someone that I care about, especially this tough case that I have drawn, come to Christ, would be a miracle on earth.