There is a great song out right now about releasing fear. The chorus goes like this; “Fear, you don’t own me. There ain’t no room in this story…I know who I am, I know I’m strong and I am free, got my own identity. So, fear, you will never be welcome here.” At sixty-three, you would think that this letting go of fear thing wouldn’t be a problem. Guess again. In the last four years, I’ve thought my world had been rocked right off its foundation, and I was hanging on by my fingernails. But, thankfully, I was reminded repeatedly that the foundation that I was standing on was strong, mighty, and could NOT be rocked by anything. The God of the universe was holding me in his hand, and I remembered that I could be strong in Him, so fear had no place in my life.
Four plus years ago, my mother – my best friend, my confidant, my roomie, and my rock, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Blow number one. It was found at a very early stage and after a massive operation, she was in pretty good shape. Except for that one lymph node that had cancerous cells in it. That one would be a problem someday. In August of 2016, my brother, my only sibling and my crazy counterpart, was diagnosed with the same horrible disease. But his was very advanced, so he fought the fight for eight months and died in April of 2017. Blow number two. Eight months later, at a routine checkup with mom’s cancer doctor, it was discovered that one ugly lymph node had made its home in her liver. For six months, her life was pretty much normal. Then that diseased liver started showing signs that it was going to put up a fight. In November 2018, mom’s body quit fighting and she joined my brother in heaven. Blow number three. They say that bad things come in threes. Well, I think I can testify to that one.
But now I look back from this side of the road, and I see that even though I often felt alone and afraid, I have never let fear win. I see God’s hands, and I see them in human form through the body of Christ. Those amazing and precious brothers and sisters who walked along side me, never letting me give in or give up. They literally fed me (Baptists are all about feeding each other when we are down!) and they sat with me when I needed to talk. They cleaned my bathroom, vacuumed my carpet, took out my trash, and sent me messages of encouragement. They welcomed my biological family when we gathered to celebrate mom’s life, caring for our emotional and physical needs. And, praise be to Jesus, they continue to be my strength when I am down, and some are my sidekicks when I am bubbling over.
I say all of this to tell you that the memes, funny stories, and some not so funny ones that you see on social media, don’t begin to tell the story of Christ and his earthly family. Yes, some of us aren’t really helping his cause, but most of us are just working to be His hands and feet, not just for each other, but to the world. When he told us to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:19), he didn’t just want us to go door-to-door and shove the gospel down everybody’s throat. He wanted us to live it out and be examples to a lost and dying world. One that needs Him more and more every day.
So, when we try and fail, when we look foolish to the eyes of the world, please know that we, as Christians, are just people. Human people who fail, who don’t always live up to the call of our God. But we love you and we want nothing more than for you to fall in love with our Jesus. He died for you. He arose on the third day so that you could have eternal life. It sounds like a fairy tale, but it’s true and it’s real and I pray that you will check it out for yourself. Don’t let fear or pride hold you back. Just look and believe.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” John 3:16-17
