Tired of being afraid

August 7th, 2011

Dear Faithful One,

Have you ever wanted to slay the giant of fear in your life? Last Thursday, the class at Inspire Women’s Leadership Institute overflowed with new and returning students. The next four weeks we will be learning from our faith siblings in the Bible and contemporaries who have evidenced courage in the midst of fear. One of the topics we covered last week was “Transforming Fear in the midst of physical harm”. May I give you a glimpse of what takes place at Inspire Women’s Leadership Institute?

The women watched a video on the widows of the five men who were killed by the Auca Indians. The women were praying at home when their husbands went into the jungle to share the gospel. All men were lanced to death. Elisabeth Elliott was one of the widows. From studying the lives of God’s saints in the Bible as well as women of faith who have evidenced boldness, below was part of the lesson:

1. Be sure of your mission and that the mission is worthy of the danger you are in. Don’t waste your suffering on a mission that is not from God’s heart.

2. God will not keep life from touching you. He allowed Jesus to go to the cross.

3. Though God may allow suffering, He will never leave you. You can be sure of God’s everlasting arms around you.

4. When you look back at your life, life is not about staying safe. It is about being willing to lose your life for a mission that is bigger than you.

The Apostle Paul said it this way in Phil 1:21-22, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” NIV.

I pray this devotion encouraged you in a special way. When I pray for you, I hear a victory song. I believe in you because I believe in the power of God’s Word in you as you put His Word into action.

Love, Anita