Part 2 of a 3-part series
In, I Was Caught in Its Grip, part 1 of the 3-part series Fear & Worry, My Untold Story, I shared with you how fear crept into my life slowly and methodically until my joy was being snuffed out by its grip.
Now I would like to share with you the rest of my story…
You may recall in Part 1, that there was a catalytic event that moved my husband and me toward our first mission trip, the trip that would change everything for me. Normally, my fear would have prevented me from entertaining the idea of a mission trip overseas, but this event was so profound and unexpected that the prompting couldn’t be ignored.
It all started on a Sunday morning during a church service. During the worship service, I looked over at my husband and saw that he had the most awestruck, dumbfounded look on his face, and he was looking around him. What I didn’t know at the time but would find out later, was that he had just audibly heard the Lord tell him, “Go with her.” At first, he thought maybe someone nearby said something to him. He looked around, then at me, and he said internally, Lord?? Go with who? Then he turned and saw a woman in the back and knew he was supposed to go with her. A few minutes later the pastor invited the woman to the front. She was a missionary, and she was speaking in the service that day.
I learned of all of this from Jason after the service, at which point there was much discussion between us. Go where? When? How? Our questions were soon answered when the same missionary spoke again during the evening service and gave an open invitation to the church body to go with her when she returned to India and Sri Lanka.
And so, we went. I had never been to another country other than a tourist resort in the Caribbean where we had spent some time a few years earlier. Our mission trip destination would be the Bangalore, India, area for one week, followed by two weeks traveling all over Sri Lanka. During that incredible, life-changing experience, I had to fight fear head-on.
Fear of injury and death was kicked to the curb. Not only did we have two flights that crossed the Atlantic Ocean and two flights that flew over the Indian Ocean, but we also had a 12-hour layover in a Middle Eastern airport (less than 8 years after the September 11th terrorist attacks). Upon arrival in Bangalore, our 5-female and 1-male team boarded a taxi after dark. If that wasn’t scary enough, this driver drove crazier and faster than a New York cabbie with total disregard for traffic rules. He ran red lights, drove in the oncoming lane with his lights off, honked at everyone as he weaved quickly in and out of lanes, pretty much everything you can think of.
Later, I had even more opportunities to conquer my fears as we prepared to enter Sri Lanka off the coast of India. Sri Lanka was nearing the end of a 25-year civil war. The day before we were to fly into Colombo, a rebel plane was shot down over the airport. Having received word of this, we had a group decision to make. Do we proceed as planned, stay in India longer, or return home? After some time in prayer, we unanimously decided to proceed to Sri Lanka and had an incredible time there.
While there were more scary moments to face during our time in those countries that I haven’t mentioned here (one including armed soldiers pulling our vehicle over), they were nothing compared to the things God was doing there in the hearts of the people and in our own. It was there in those two countries, places I would have never fathomed visiting in my lifetime, that God began revealing and confirming things to us about our individual callings. It was there that I first experienced some of the spiritual gifts the Lord was giving me. It was there that he placed deeper compassion in me for the lost and hurting.
What if I hadn’t gone? What if I had allowed fear to paralyze me, keeping me at home?
And this is the point I want to make… when you give power to your fear, you miss out on God’s blessings. When you let fear rule your life, you could even miss out on the fulfilling and unique purpose God has for your life.
I had the choice to either give fear lordship of my life or to give Christ lordship of my life. Praise God I chose the latter.
In Part 3 of this series I’ll share with you what fear is, where it comes from, and how you can break free from its bondage.
Read Part 3: How Your Chains Can Be Broken Too
