Comments on: Afraid of the dark

By: C. Holland

C. Holland — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 10:42:02 +0000

Thanks for the shout out. Re: the comments, I’m finding that “parental concerns” are a bigger part of missions than I would have suspected, even if you are a fully-independent adult. While some parents’ concerns may seem justified, if God is really calling you then you have to make a choice, and sometimes that choice hurts.

By: uberVU - social comments

uberVU - social comments — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:31:37 +0000

Social comments and analytics for this post…

This post was mentioned on Twitter by natalie4europe: So, I was a sissy…and God taught me a lesson. Read about it: http://bit.ly/4sXoWG...

By: Larry McCrary

Larry McCrary — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:52:18 +0000

“Afraid of the Dark” reminded me about a time when I was on a “Outward Bound”
type of wilderness trip in College. We spent 14 days in the mountains. We
had to spend two days and one night doing a “Solo” excursion. I was not to
excited about that. I do not like darkness. I can do camping with a group but to do it solo was a
bit much plus we had to fast. We could only take a flashlight, sleeping bag,
bible and journal. I noticed as I was walking in my area there was a sign
that said “Bear Sanctuary”. I was so looking forward to the next morning. I
can live in daylight. I had an idea. I thought I would conquer my fear of
darkness by going to sleep while it was light and then waking up in the
morning. I had no problems on the going to sleep part. However, I was
awakened by some sounds in the woods but it was atleast daylight. I thought
I had it made only to realize as I was wide awake now that it was getting
darker. I had only taken a nap. I then managed to stay up most of the night.
I am sure I used up all of the battery in my flashlight but when morning
came it was a victory for me a darkness.

It was way outside my comfort zone to spend a night by myself in the woods.
It was one of the first times as I was reading scripture that I truly
understood what it meant in Acts 1:8, Romans 8 and other passages as it
talks of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. I started to realize
then that as the Lord prompted me to take risks and to go outside my comfort
zones that he was not sending me alone. I have the promise of the Holy
Spirit. I know sometimes I need to be reminded of the powerful role of the Holy Spirit in mission.

I am a fan of Seth Godin. I read his blog almost every day. I love what he
says about risk taking. If you follow his blog he will talk about risk
taking quite a bit.

This post is worth the read.
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2006/10/501.html

By: Natalie

Natalie — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:45:47 +0000

Interesting you mention the group of students, Almost an M. I remember in high school practically begging my parents to let me go on my first ever mission trip, to Ecuador–not a dangerous location, but in my parents’ minds this meant leaving a summer job for a week (possibly resulting in being fired because of that absence) and spending money I didn’t have at the time–huge risks. God of course provided, but I remember learning the balance of respecting and honoring my parents while seeking to follow the Lord’s lead.
The key is obedience to God’s commands on our lives, regardless of how ridiculous or insane they may seem, weighed against Scripture. Certainly my parents no longer dictate my coming and going, but I still respect their opinion and want to hear it. Yet if God says, “Do,” and it doesn’t make practical sense but lines up with his Word, I simply have to “do.”

By: almost an M

almost an M — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:51:59 +0000

Thanks. I have recently seen the intersection of missional living and fear create serious concern that plays into a number of short-term and long-term future decisions for me and my family. In the short-term decisions we moved forward in faith and God blessed repeatedly. In the long-term, we are still praying.

I learned of a collegiate group that had multiple participants pull out of an international trip to South Korea some months ago due to parental concerns. Though I would consider this a low risk location, it is important to reconcile our fears and our command. We are to pursue wisdom. We are to make disciples. Not to do so would be unwise and probably compromise the way we view safety. Awareness of both our fears and the darkness where we are to shine can create a healthy tension.