Fear

My apologies that this post has been so long coming.  We are having a lot of fun but are incredibly busy and I do promise I will try to get these to you a little more regularly.


Mike and I have been in Syracuse, Long Island, Poughkeepsie, Binghamton and Scotch Plains NJ this month.  We have had lunches and services and have been blessed everywhere we've visited so far.  This week we are on Long Island again on Wednesday 11/16/11, Horseheads on 11/19/11 and Mechanicville 11/20/11.   We are so looking forward to meeting more of our church family during these visits.  


We were on Long Island last week and, from the bottom of my heart, I will NEVER complain about traffic in Syracuse again.  It took us 1 1/2 hours to go 3 blocks trying to get through Manhattan and into the Holland Tunnel.  Needless to say the car overheated and the check engine light went on.  I have to say that I am not normally a fearful driver but I started to panic as we got closer to the tunnel.  What if the car broke down while we were in there?  What if we missed our service?  What if...what if...what if...have you ever noticed that those two words very often start off our litany of fears?  


The what if's in our lives start us thinking and spinning around and around and cause us to lose our focus.  Fear is my personal nemesis as I have been a "fraidy kid" since I was very young.  My fearful nature followed me well into my adult years and, truthfully, I still battle it in Spirit a great deal.  But God does not mean us to live in that kind of fear.  He calls us to "fear" Him that is to have a reverent awe for Him.  Then a very wise woman made a statement that I will never forget, "Fear is faith twisted."  


When God created man, He intended us to have a complete relationship with Him.  We were made in His image which includes the way our emotions were supposed to work.  Then came the fall and more than just our Spiritual nature changed.  Our emotions, the way they were supposed to be, changed as well.  I don't believe fear, the kind that twists your insides, makes you sweat and not want to take that next step, was ever intended to be in our lives.  Scripture says that God "doesn't give us a Spirit of fear but of power and a sound mind."  


Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen.  There's no fear in this statement.  We were intended to walk forward believing that the path before us will be solid regardless if we can see it or not.  Christ intends us to be His hands and feet to the nations; that means everyone, everywhere in the world.  We cannot, I cannot, do that if we are so bound up in focus on ourselves that we are terrified to make the step because the path isn't as clear as we would like it.  


What if...we let God have all of our what if's and just did what we know that He has purposed in our lives? 


May God richly bless each of you.  


Mike and Tina Hook


PS...the car has a cracked coolant reservoir, bless the Lord, and should be fixed in time for our trip this week!