Who will you trust, Pharaoh or Father?

What does fear look like? What does it sound like?

Typically when I think of fear, I think of horror, panic, or shock. But ordinary fear is far more subtle than this.

There were many things to consider as Ailsa and I went back and forth on whether we should move to New York City or continue life and ministry in Edinburgh. We made lists, we prayed, we talked to friends, we read blogs, we forecasted expenses and income, we did everything we knew to do.

When it came right down to it, there were a lot of good reasons to NOT make this move. The cost is astronomical. The risks are intense. The timing could be better. Every bit of conventional wisdom said, “stay put.” Many friends and trusted advisors told me the same.

As I got ready to throw in the towel on the dream, I heard a simple question from God, “what’s behind all your ‘good reasons’ to not go?”

As I mulled over the question in my spirit one simple obstacle stood behind all my logic and reasoning, FEAR.

 

Fear often looks like comfort & sounds like wisdom.

Consider the children of Israel leaving 400 years of slavery. They plundered their oppressors and walked through a parted sea into the unknown, but only weeks into their new life they pined for the certainty of Egypt’s food (Exodus 16:1-4).

Left to our own devices, we are much the same. We would rather trust a pharaoh who will feed us than a Father who will lead us. We would rather serve a god of comfort than the God who calls.

Where is fear (not horror, panic, or shock) keeping you from God’s call?

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” Romans 8:14-15

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