Viking Restaurant

When It Rains It Pours

The last week of my life was easily the most stressful of 2006. Its funny because I remember feeling for the greater part of the past two months of my life that my life in general was very boring. Last week was anything but. I went through just about every kind of emotional ordeal you can think of. The week was full of relational drama, family drama, and spiritual turmoil, and it was all topped off by my getting poison ivy all over my face over the weekend. Most of it is not anything I really care to go into on my blog right now. But I wanted the general community at large to know that Ive learned a lot about faith, love, fear, hope, and human frailty over the past week. Ive learned that God truly is in complete control of our circumstances at every moment, that there is no step that we can take outside of His soveriegn, caring hand, and that we therefore have no reason for fear. The Christian life truly is one of hope and that of hope abundantly. We can dare to risk ourselves and take steps that we never thought we could take because He loves us. He really is sufficient to get us through any trial, any ordeal, no matter how uncomfortable and scary it may seem, because He guides us through every moment of our lives with a compassionate love.

This may seem fairly unrelated, but I saw the movie "Apocalypto" by Mel Gibson yesterday and it really struck me on a visceral level. Even though it was an incredibly violent movie and almost sickening to watch at times, I felt powerfully moved by it. One of the central themes of the movie is about overcoming fear in our lives. The main character in the film, Jaguar Paw, goes on a journey throughout the film that takes him from a place of fear to a place of utter confidence and assurance. One of the most touching scenes of the film is when his father says to him at a very pivotal moment in the film "Do Not Be Afraid." And as I watched that scene I honestly felt as if the Holy Spirit was speaking that into my heart. I felt my heavenly Father saying "Do Not Be Afraid" and it was immensely comforting. It gave me a moment of peace and clarity that was an incredibly welcome relief after a long week of confusion and emotional perplexity. Fear has been such a major issue in my life. I realize that it has controlled my life in many ways for many years. And so Im thankful that the Lord has convicted me this week to overcome certain fears and to move forward in faith to see what He has in store for me. I know this all sounds very vague, but I just dont want to spill out details on a blog right now. Its enough to say that Ive been powerfully reminded this week that God does not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind. And that is an incredible source of comfort for me right now.