Longing For His Appearing

Hi friends and readers of Longing For His Appearing,

I am very excited to announce the launching of my new website/blog at www.echoinghim.com!  I hope you’ll come on over to visit me there and make sure to switch over your blog subscriptions to my new rss feed.

Thanks so much for reading and looking forward to hearing from you at my new site!

Jacquie

A continuation… (Read Part 1 and Part 2)

In Romans 13:8, 9, Paul writes that all of the commandments in the law are fulfilled if we will just love one another and that all of the commandments could be summed up by the command, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”. While the Scriptures themselves command me to be a woman of the Word and to meditate on it daily and to pray unceasingly, if I do those things and neglect to love my children, I have missed it! Matthew 23:23 has Jesus rebuking the religious leaders saying, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done without leaving the others undone.” It is a religious spirit that causes us to get so focused on performing the duties of being a Christian that we forget what truly matters – justice, mercy, faith and love. They were offering to God what was required by the law, but they had missed what He truly desired to receive from them.

For me, while this new revelation has deeply impacted my heart, it is still difficult to put into action. I have found it difficult to lay down my desires for how I want to worship God and what I want to offer Him in order to seek what He wants. While I may be fixated upon getting time to read my Bible or pray, if I were to stop and ask Him, “What offering do you want from me, God?” perhaps His answer would be, “Play with your son” or “Rest your body” or “Go for a walk with your husband” or “Call your friend and pray for her need” or “Sing a song to me” or “Hold your daughter while she cries” or any number of things that I previously wouldn’t have considered as being a valid offering of worship unto God. Somewhere along the line, I forgot that I am actually loving God when I love people! I think there will also be times when He would ask of me to read my Bible or pray, but the point is that I don’t assume what He wants and that I am willing to give up my way of doing things for His way. To have a broken and contrite spirit like David wrote about in Psalm 51:16-17 requires that I submit my will to God and set aside my own selfish desires – not an easy thing to do!

As Romans 12:1 says, “…present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God…”

A continuation… (Read Part 1 here)

My husband gave me a word from the Lord, “You want to give an offering to God your way instead of His way.”

I immediately was convicted by the truth of his statement and realized that though my initial desire to spend time in the Word and in prayer was good and honorable, that I had never bothered to ask the Lord what kind of offering He desired! And perhaps that was the problem with Cain in Genesis 4. Perhaps he saw that Abel was giving an offering to God and in his own desire to please God, he strove to present something to God out of his own strength, instead of first asking the Lord what type of offering would please Him? I have done this countless times – I see what someone else is able to offer to God, by spending hours in Bible study or intercession, and then I feel that I want to do the same, regardless of whether or not that is what the Lord is asking of me. I so easily feel pressured by what the apparent standard is for being a “good Christian” and I strive to please God by checking off chapters on a Bible-reading plan or logging the hours I’ve put in through prayer. Only, I’m usually left feeling like it is never enough and that I can never attain to this elusive super-Christian status. I want to give God an offering my way, based on my desires and my strength, and I just set myself up for failure.

Why has it never occurred to me before to ask God what type of offering or worship He would like from me?? Yet this is the very same trap that the Israelites fell into several times. King Saul is a prime example, for when he was commanded by God to kill every person and animal in a particular tribe, he kept the best of the animals to present as an offering to God instead. And was God impressed by this extravagant gift? Not at all. In 1 Samuel 15:22-23, the Lord says this,

“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice…”

Saul had his own idea of what would please God, but completely disregarded what the Lord had commanded him to do and in so doing, missed out on what He truly desired. As a result of this act of disobedience, Saul was rejected as king of Israel and the Lord began to seek for a man who was truly after His own heart. This brings me to David, who was perhaps one of the few who really sought God’s heart and sought to discover what He delighted in. In Psalm 51:16-17, he writes this,

“For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart – these, O God, You will not despise.”

It seems strange, that the very sacrifices and offerings that God commanded His people to offer Him were the very things that they would get tripped up on, thinking that these outward signs of worship were what He desired, when what He really wanted was their hearts. In Isaiah 1:11-17, the Lord rebukes Israel, saying that He has come to despise their sacrifices and that their incense has become an abomination to Him because of the sinful lives they were living. If I put myself into this story, I might be looking for God’s approval after reading for an hour in my Bible, only for Him to find it an unacceptable offering, since it was given at the cost of treating my children without love.

To be continued…

Perhaps you are familiar with this feeling – you have a hunger and a desire to spend time with the Lord and when other responsibilities, events, or people get in the way, it’s almost as though they become your enemy. This is a good feeling to have when the things that hinder you from loving God are sinful or fruitless activities or relationships, since we need to be tenacious and violent in our pursuit of God and willing to forsake our other “lovers”. However, what do you do when the thing that’s getting in your way is your own flesh and blood – a screaming toddler or a hungry baby?

This was where I found myself the other day – longing and aching to fulfill that desire to spend long hours reading my Bible and communing with Jesus, only to be continuously thwarted at every turn by my own dear children. It didn’t take long before there was a pent-up ball of fiery rage burning on the inside of me and I just wanted to scream and cry and yell at the unfairness of it all (and in fact, I did scream and cry some). This is the paradox of parenting – how this little human being whom you love so deeply also seems to bring out the worst in you by exposing all your selfish motives!

But this is not what I wanted to share with you – it is just how the story begins. That evening, as I was ready to fall apart at the seams and break down once again, my dear husband turned in his Bible to Genesis 4, which tells the story of Cain and Abel. I’m sure you are familiar with this famous tale of the very first murder, but it begins with what appears to be a sincere offering to God on Cain’s part. He brought an offering of his crops to the Lord, while his brother Abel brought the firstborn of his flock. The Lord accepted Abel’s offering, but not Cain’s. At this, Cain became very angry and the Lord asks him, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

To be completely honest, when reading this, it is tempting to side with Cain and wonder why the Lord was so hard on him? What was wrong with Cain’s offering? Why wasn’t it good enough? Wouldn’t you be angry and upset too? Must we strive to gain God’s approval and acceptance? Like Cain, I had an offering I desired to give to the Lord – I wanted to offer Him my time and focused devotion – and when that didn’t work out for me, I became angry and began to take it out on my own family members, even as Cain took out his anger on his brother Abel.

Now was there anything wrong with my desire? Was there anything wrong with wanting to spend time reading my Bible or praying? Of course not! But, here is where it hit home for me when my husband said to me, by the Holy Spirit’s prophetic inspiration,

“You want to give an offering to God your way instead of His way.”

Ouch!

To be continued…

*Updated Info in GreenText*

Like many others, today we are both grieved by the devastation in Haiti and grateful for God’s provision in our lives as we see how much we have to be thankful for in light of so many people’s great loss.  Also, like many, we are asking “How can I help?” 

First of all, we can PRAY.  Today, I joined in with the International House of Prayer as they dedicated a time of intercession to praying for restoration and revival in Haiti.  According to IHOP’s blog, you can join them free via the live webstream to cover Haiti and its people in prayer during all of their intercession sets (12:00am, 4:00am, 6:00am, 10:00am, 4:00pm, 8:00pm) – though I’m not sure how long they’re doing this for?  If you want to view previous sets from a particular prayer meeting, you can go to www.ihop.org, click on the big button for the Prayer Room, then find the links beneath the media player next to the heading that says “Click here for Archives”.  Once you’ve selected the quality level you want, on the right side you’ll see a drop-down box where you can select the day – choose the intercession set you want to view.  Of course, you can pray and intercede for Haiti anywhere and anytime!  Some things to pray for…

1. Provision of food, water, shelter and aid to get to the victims.
2. Anointing and power upon the local churches that they could minister effectively to those in need.
3. An outpouring of the Holy Spirit for healing (physical & emotional), resurrection, and salvations.
4. Provision for Christian crisis relief and aid organizations to be able to get into Haiti and help these victims in the name of Jesus.
5. Comfort, strength, and hope for those who have lost loved ones.
6. Revival – that many would realize their deep need for a Savior and turn from their sin and turn to God.
7. For adoptions of Haitian orphans currently in process to be allowed to go through quickly – see article here.  People in Canada and the United States are speaking up on behalf of these orphans and fighting to make it possible for them to be brought home to their adoptive families.

Secondly, we can GIVE.  A warning before you donate, though, is that there are already people seeking to take advantage of this disaster through Haiti charity scams.  Check out this article for ways to avoid being scammed and how you can ensure you give to trustworthy charities.  Now here are just a few Christian organizations that have come to my attention that I think would be worthy of receiving financial aid right now who are seeking to respond to this crisis in Haiti.  I’m sure there are many more – perhaps you can leave them in the comments if you know of some – but here are ones I would recommend…

Compassion International - Because Compassion International ministers through local churches to meet the needs of that church’s neighbors, and because these church partners are respected aid workers in their communities, Compassion is uniquely positioned to assess and meet the needs of it’s sponsored children quickly. This is an advantage of their church-based model in practice for more than 50 years.  Also, Compassion has been given the highest approval rating by both www.CharityNavigator.com and The American Institute of Philanthropy.  They are a trusted charity who is committed to giving all funds raised in response to the Haiti earthquake  immediately to provide for Compassion-assisted children and families affected by this crisis. Any funds raised in excess will be stewarded by Compassion for additional and future disaster relief efforts. You can provide immediate relief to the Haiti Earthquake victims today.
• $35 helps provide a relief pack filled with enough food and water to sustain a family for one week.
• $70 gift helps care for their needs for two weeks.
• $105 helps provide relief packs filled with enough food and water to sustain two families for two weeks.
• $210 gift helps care for two families’ needs.
• $525 helps provide relief packs filled with enough food and water to sustain 10 families for two weeks.
• $1,050 gift helps care for 10 families’ needs.
• $1,500 helps rebuild a home.
• $2,100 helps supply 20 families with the basics for three weeks.

Crisis Response International – CRI is a non-profit organization that resources, trains and mobilizes volunteers, churches and other organizations to respond to disasters and other  compassion initiatives in the UnitedStates and world-wide.  Their vision is to train an army of end-time, prophetic, mercy missionaries, mobilized in the spirit of night and day prayer, to release great demonstrations of power, reach the harvest in crisis and rebuild cities on the Kingdom of God.  Presently CRI is collaborating efforts with Haitian national churches to bring relief and mobilize volunteers to the area. This is a tremendous opportunity to bring the Love and hope of Jesus Christ into this hurting area. Reports on CNN stated that people were screaming in the streets “Jesus is coming back and they were calling on God for help.”  Check out their site to see how you can help.

God’s Littlest Angels - GLA is an independent, non-denominational ministry founded to care for premature, malnourished, and abandoned children in Haiti. GLA is a faith mission relying on God to provide funding and other needs through churches and donors throughout North America and Europe.  Doctors and clinics refer babies that are in need of intensive nursing care and nutritional support to GLA. The ministry has developed from a Child Survival Center that cares only for premature, malnourished and abandoned infants under 2 years old into an orphanage that facilitates adoptions for children of all ages. Today, the orphanage is a fully functioning nursery with incubators, warming beds, and the capability to provide oxygen, intravenous fluids, and monitoring support for critically ill infants.  While at the same time, providing full-time child care for all of the children.  As I’m sure you realize, they are expecting many more orphans to be coming to them as a result of this disaster and you can help them by donating on their website – just click on the “Donate” button at the top of the right column or donate on their blog by using Earthquake Relief Fund widget in the right column.

Samaritan’s Purse – Samaritan’s Purse is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. Since 1970, Samaritan’s Purse has helped meet needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine with the purpose of sharing God’s love through His Son, Jesus Christ.  Samaritan’s Purse is responding to the earthquake that devastated Haiti by providing critically needed assistance, including water, temporary shelter, blankets, hygiene kits, medical aid, and other essentials.  You can donate to their relief efforts here.

World Vision - World Vision is a Christian humanitarian charity organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. The millions of people they serve include earthquake and hurricane survivors, abandoned and exploited children, survivors of famine and civil war, refugees, and children and families in communities devastated by AIDS in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Their extensive global infrastructure enables them to respond where the need is greatest, anywhere in the world. World Vision is on the ground rushing emergency supplies to survivors of the Haiti catastrophe. Your gift now will help distribute life-saving relief supplies – including food, clean water, blankets, and tents — to children and families devastated by the earthquake and aftershocks in Haiti.  World Vision has worked in Haiti for 30 years and has some 370 staff in country. Send your gift to help them today.

I recently had the opportunity to review the book “Love & Respect” by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs, and coincidentally was also able to watch the 5 Disc Conference DVD set at the same time.  My husband and I started reading the book together, but then found it much easier and less time-consuming to watch the DVDs.  I finished reading the book on my own and found it interesting to then compare the book with the DVDs.

First of all, the book and DVDs introduce couples to the idea of “unconditional love and respect” from the verse Ephesians 5:33 which says, “However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”  As Eggerichs expanded on this idea, I was totally convicted by the Holy Spirit in areas where I had not been showing my husband the respect that he needs as a man.  It was a new revelation to see how God had created and designed my husband to need this respect in a completely unique way from the way He created me to need love.  This was followed by some fantastic teaching on how we can make our spouse feel loved/respected and the different ways we communicate and interpret our worlds based on our unique pink/blue lenses.  It was really great to discover that we have different needs and that we’re not wrong to feel the way we do – we’re just different! 

My eyes were opened to see the ways I was being disrespectful to my husband and it equipped me with ideas on how I can really build him up and be the helpmate God intended me to be through my respectful behavior towards him.  On the other hand, I have also already been reaping the benefits of increased acts of love from my husband, which is certainly a bonus!    We are both recognizing more quickly when we have gotten on the “Crazy Cycle”, as Eggerichs calls it, and how to work through those conflicts and get on the “Energizing Cycle”.  (You can read the book for yourself to find out what those are all about!)  We were also both really pleased with how the teaching series ended with focusing on the importance of making Jesus the focus and center of this message, since ultimately, the way we love and respect our spouse is directly related to our love and reverence for Christ. 

I would absolutely recommend this book and/or DVD series to any engaged, married, separated, or divorced couple who wants to either build a great foundation for starting their marriage, improve upon a good marriage, or repair a badly damaged marriage.  (I also know some single people who’ve really enjoyed this teaching, so it seems I could recommend it to just about everyone!)  The many testimonies from couples that Eggerichs shares are proof that getting this revelation of what the Bible says about unconditional love and respect can radically change our marriages for the better!  And while my husband and I found areas where we do not fit the typical mold of how most men and women communicate or react, we were still able to discover how to apply the principles to our relationship and the conversations we had while watching the DVDs were probably the highlight of it all!

As for the comparison between the book and the DVD series, I would say that I enjoyed the DVD series more because Eggerichs is a dynamic and humorous communicator in a way that doesn’t come through quite as well in the written form.  But I am also really glad I have the book, because it allows me to go back easily to reference points I want to review.  The content between them is virtually identical, but I’d say there’s more detail in the book as well, which you may benefit from if you’ve only seen the DVDs.  For more info, you can also visit their website at www.loveandrespect.com.

…as it is written:
   ”No eye has seen, 
   no ear has heard,
   no mind has conceived
   what God has prepared for those who love him”
—but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.  For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.  (1 Corinthians 2:9-11)

The other day, I was spending some time singing and meditating on this passage and I was struck with the longing to know the deep things of God.  As I searched the scripture to find out what else it said about this subject, I discovered that Jesus was one who felt things very deeply.

He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.  (Mark 3:5)

He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means, “Be opened!” ).  (Mark 7:34)

He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled.  (Mark 14:33)

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled…Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.  (John 11:33, 38)

…And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ… (Ephesians 3:17, 18)

Over the recent years, I have been learning about the emotions of God, but it never occurred to me that God has deep emotions!  We have been made in God’s likeness and image and He created us as emotional creatures, yet I’m sure our emotions are just a faint whisper, a mere echo of the emotions that dwell in the heart of God.  I have felt joy, sorrow, anger, love and numerous other emotions, yet I do not think I could even begin to comprehend what God feels when He feels joy or sorrow or love! 

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!  Who has known the mind of the Lord?  (Romans 11:33-34)

It’s no wonder that Paul prayed in Ephesians that the Holy Spirit would give us power in our inner man to be able to grasp the depths of the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge!  It is not possible to conceive the deep things of God unless the Holy Spirit reveals them to us, as it says in the passage from 1 Corinthians, since only the Holy Spirit can search out the depths of God’s heart and mind.  We need an outpouring of the Spirit’s wisdom and revelation to take us into His deep emotions and thoughts so that we “may know him better” (Ephesians 1:17).

And while at times I feel that I am so shallow and lacking in spiritual depth, I believe that God has created deep wells within my soul and spirit, ones that even I have not yet discovered or tapped into and it is those deep emotions and thoughts that cry out with longing and desperation to touch the depths of God.  As it says in Psalm 42,

Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers have swept over me.  (Psalm 42:7)

The deep places in my spirit call out to the deep places in the Spirit of God and as much as terrifies me, I desire to come under the thundering, pounding roar of His waterfalls and waves.  My personal experience of joy is as a small drop in comparison to the Niagara Falls of God’s joy and I don’t think I could even handle the full revelation of His emotions, yet I don’t want that to stop me from asking for it!

What does the roar of God’s deep righteous anger sound like?  What do the waves of God’s deep love feel like?  What do the breakers of God’s deep sorrow feel like?  His deep jealousy?  His deep joy?  His deep compassion?  Is it possible to know and experience God’s deep emotions, His deep thoughts?  My mind gets completely overwhelmed at just the thought of trying to tap into the depths of God, yet I pray and cry out for it! 

The purposes of a man’s heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out.  (Proverbs 20:5)

Oh, that I would be a woman of understanding and somehow, by the Holy Spirit, be given the gift to be able to draw out the deep waters of God’s heart.

In the last couple months, the Lord has been putting His finger on several areas in my heart related to parenting.  Joe and I often remark on how much easier it was to transition from being single to being married than it was to transition from being married to being parents – it’s a tough gig!  More than ever, you become acutely aware of the darkness of your heart and your desperate need for the Holy Spirit.  I wish I could say that I’ve made drastic improvements to how I relate to my son Justice, but I feel like I’ve only taken tiny baby steps and I have so much further to go!  For my own sake, I decided to write a little bit about some of the scriptures the Lord has highlighted to me, even to remind myself of what He spoke and to pray that He help me to apply them.

The first scripture that came alive to me in a new way was the very familiar passage on the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5, which says, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience (long-suffering), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness (meekness) and self-control…Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit” (vs. 22, 25).  I am convinced these verses were written for parents, for I have never needed these things more than I do now!  I long to have these fruits of the Spirit growing in abundance in my life, that I could be a mother who shows unconditional love, has joy in my heart, creates a peaceful atmosphere in my home, has unending patience, shows kindness in the face of anger, demonstrates gentleness and meekness by bringing the power and authority I have as an adult under the control of the Spirit so that I do not use it in harmful ways.  I want to walk in step with the Spirit instead of giving in to my flesh for, “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.  The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:5-6).

In close connection to this passage is another familiar one from 1 Corinthians 13, the famous “Love Chapter”, which says, “Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs…It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.” (vs. 4-8)  There is some obvious overlap between these two, but what especially stood out to me is that love is not self-seeking or easily angered.  If parenting has revealed anything about me lately, it seems to have shown me how selfish I can be and how easily I can give in to anger and frustration.  Most times, if I react harshly towards my son, it is because he is preventing me from doing something that I want (or feel I need) to do.  It is no small thing to try and obey the exhortation in Philippians 2:4, “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”  By nature, I am more inclined to consider my own interests first and foremost above anybody elses, including my husband and children, when the very nature of Christ which I desire to have formed in me, was to lay down all his rights to serve others.

A third scripture that I desire to see fulfilled in my home in regards to parenting is Isaiah 32:17-18 which says, “The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.  My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest.”  Again, I see the connection to the fruit of the Spirit (or righteousness) and I am again gripped with my need for His working in my life if I desire to have a home that is peaceful, secure, and restful.  More than just wanting my home to feel at peace because the circumstances have changed (although I would certainly welcome that), I desire that the attitude and environment of my own heart and mind would be at complete peace, even in the midst of chaos.  I also want the effect of having my life transformed in righteousness to be a home where my children can dwell with confidence, because they are secure in my love for them.

Lastly, a scripture that really struck me was one I read in my devotional book titled “Loving God” which contains excerpts from various books by Mike Bickle.  The passage is intense and pierced my heart with conviction and sobriety as it warned, “Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, therefore you shall serve your enemies.” (Deuteronomy 28:47-48)  Woah.  Since I consider parenting not only an act of service to my children, but also an act of service unto God, this is saying that if I don’t serve (parent) my children with joy, gladness and gratitude in my heart, that I am opening myself up to be brought into bondage by the enemy!  As Mike wrote, “When we enter into God’s joy and gladness, the door to much of Satan’s activity slams shut in our lives.  The joy of serving God keeps us from compromise.  A glad heart is a strong heart. (Nehemiah 8:10)”  How true!!  If I am not connected to the Lord and if I am not communing with His heart, which is joyful and glad, then I am so much more vulnerable to the lies and schemes of the enemy to lure me into complaining, anger, bitterness, unthankfulness, and a host of other terrible things.  But if I can receive and be filled with the joy of the Lord, it will strengthen me to withstand and overcome the enemy and equip me to love and lead my children well.

I once heard it said that when God asks a question, He isn’t asking for His benefit, but for ours.  So when Jesus asks the question, “Why are you afraid?” (Matt. 8:26), He’s asking so that I’ll take a good look at my own heart and examine the reasons why I struggle with fear.

In Matthew 4, when the disciples are caught in a storm with Jesus fast asleep, they question him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”  In Max Lucado’s book Fearless, which I just recently read & reviewed, he notes that “They do no ask about Jesus’ strength…knowledge…or his know-how…But rather, they raise doubts about Jesus’ character: ‘Do you not care…’  Fear does this.  Fear corrodes our confidence in God’s goodness.” (pg. 9, emphasis mine) 

So when Jesus asks me the question, “Why are you afraid?”, one answer is that I don’t always believe that He is good or trust that He actually cares about whatever situation is striking fear in my heart.  I forget that the reason He even asks me why I’m afraid is because He truly, sincerely and deeply cares about my fears and wants to help me overcome them!  He is not distant and separated from my situation, but He is actually right there in the storm with me and is intimately involved in what is going on.  Yet fear causes me to question His goodness and His trustworthiness.  I fear that in my imagined tragic scenarios of pain and woe that He won’t be there for me and He won’t do anything to save me from perishing.  Worse yet, whenever something negative happens, or even when I imagine one of my fears coming true, I often think that it’s because God needs to punish me for something bad I’ve done.

These fears are completely misplaced and obviously sown by the enemy, but it is still difficult to combat the lies after agreeing with them for so long.  Fear is such a battle of the mind and thoughts and as much as I wish I could have victory over fear instantly, I think it will be a process of renewing my mind with the truth about who Jesus is and His character.  Even though I know that He can be trusted and He’s not out to punish me and His leadership is perfect and He is a good Shepherd, I still need those truths to impact my heart in a greater way so that the fear that has made it’s home there can be dislodged.  I need a greater revelation of His love, care, compassion and tenderness towards me, for “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18). 

I want to be made perfect in love.

When I saw the opportunity to review Max Lucado’s new book “Fearless” (being released today), I immediately knew I wanted to read what he had to say on this topic of overcoming fear.  I have always enjoyed Lucado’s writing, and as someone who struggles daily with fear and anxiety, I really anticipated gaining some new insight and revelation on this subject and I was not disappointed!  This book addresses many of the types of fears that we encounter in our lives, drawing from the stories in the New Testament where Jesus was addressing the fear and anxiety he saw in the people around him.  It was encouraging to be reminded that Jesus really does care about the things we dread and get anxious about and that He is concerned about delivering us from those fears.

Of the list of fears that people often face, the ones that struck home with me were the fear of disappointing God, the fear of not having enough (time, money, intelligence, acceptance, health, etc.) and the fear of worst-case scenarios.  And while each chapter held meaningful pieces of Biblical advice on how to counteract these fears, I found that I enjoyed the last chapter most of all, “The One Healthy Terror”, which spoke on the fear of the Lord.  After reading about all the areas where the enemy seeks to strike our hearts with fear, I really appreciated how Lucado reminded us that there is really only One that we should fear – and that is the One who holds our very life in His hands!  I was reminded that it is vital to my battle against fear to have an accurate view of God and to see Jesus for the awesomely terrifying and powerful God-man that He is!  To quote Lucado…

“As awe of Jesus expands, fears of life diminish. A big God translates into big courage.  A small view of God generates no courage.  A limp, puny, fireless Jesus has no power over [your fears]…Stare long and longingly at the Bonfire, the Holy One, the Highest One, the Only One.  As you do, all your fears, save the fear of Christ himself, will melt…” (pg. 169, 170)

The generous publishers who gave me the chance to review this book will have to forgive me for going over the preferred limit of 200 words, since it just didn’t seem enough to do this book justice.  I found “Fearless” to be challenging, inspiring, and thought-provoking.  Lucado’s imaginative storytelling and insight into the Scripture makes for a thoroughly enjoyable read and I would recommend this book to anyone, without hesitation.  After reading this book, I intend to go over the numerous portions where God was putting his finger on things in my own heart and allow Him to speak to me even more and lead me into greater levels of victory over fear!