Divine Restoration // Step Into Your Divine RoleՕրինակ

Overcoming Fear to Follow Me

There is just one way to find me, just one way to be with me. And, deep in your heart, you know what that way is. It is a knowing that you can feel and hear and trust in what cannot yet be fully seen—and yet is seen. For knowing Me now is as real as knowing Me when our eyes meet in heaven. There are just more obstacles now—things that get in the way of you experiencing Me and knowing Me But that is okay. And you can push through those things. Because I prepare a way for you to experience Me. 

Do you know why you avoid Me? Do you know why you avoid pursuing what your heart knows? Do you know why you hunger for other things besides what I give you? Do you know why you want to be in places where I am not? Do you know why you speak about Me with your mouth, but are unsure if you truly want to follow Me? I have answers to these questions; I can tell you them right now.

For here I am, standing before you. As real as the people you see in your home, as real as the people walking around outside. I am not far away. I stand before you and ask you if you want to be with Me, follow Me wherever I go. And let me tell you, there is nothing to fear. My plans for you—the things I say to you—are never something to fear.

But you do, a bit, don’t you? You think you’ll be put to the test—and that you will surely fail. If you acknowledge Me, standing before you right now, as you listen to these words, you have mixed emotions, don’t you? Amazement. Gratitude. Excitement. Nervousness. You fear my presence. You fear I will ask you to change the life you have always known. You fear I will ask too much. You fear I will take from you what you love. You fear I will take and take and not give and give. You struggle to admit these things, but they are true: you believe you know what is best for you. So you struggle to look at Me. You struggle to lift your head.

Do you remember how I walked by Peter and Andrew, James and John, and I asked them if they wanted to be with Me—to drop everything to just follow Me? They wanted my love before they even met Me, even though they didn’t yet know it. They wanted my leadership, even though they didn’t yet know the cost. They wanted my life—a life deeper and greater than they could ever imagine—even though they couldn’t imagine it, not yet, not yet.

For my love is real. My life is real. And these brothers, my friends, my disciples, dropped everything they were doing—their old lives, their old ways of seeing and doing things—for a new way to live. And it was hard. It was harder than they could have ever imagined. They suffered. They endured much loss, much pain. But the reward for following Me was greater, so much greater, than any cost. The reward of my death for you is greater, so much greater, than the cost. The loss of this life—the way you have known it—will grant you life that is beyond what you can, in this world, breathe and touch and see. And it is real, this life. You will experience it now, even now. You don’t have to wait. Not for heaven. Not for things to get better, for circumstances in your life to change. Here I am, in front of you, asking you if you want to drop what you are doing, right now, and follow Me.

Exercise:

It’s easy to assume that Jesus’ disciples were just special, that they were different from us. It’s easy to conclude that they must have had special wisdom or some super abilities—beyond anything we could ever muster. And if we do assume these things, how could we not become resigned to just this: going to church, reading the Bible a bit, and getting on with our lives.

If our assumptions are true, though, that would mean that God’s purpose in bringing us the stories of these men was to simply demonstrate something impossible and unattainable for us—a divine taunt, of sorts. It would reveal a desire in Him to impress upon us how special were his Biblical supermen—so we would gaze upon them, I guess, and wonder why He created us so . . . un-super.

But He never would. Not our Father. That is a million miles from the kind and outrageously loving heart that our heavenly dad has. We know what He’s like—and He isn’t like that.

So what is His purpose in telling these stories?

Could it have been that He is, through them, showing us His heart? And could it be that He is showing us what is possible and what is attainable? Could it be that He is seeking to inspire us and to challenge us to seek and find the more He offers and wants for us?

If that’s possible, let’s look at those Gospel stories again. And let’s look beyond who we’ve convinced ourselves, across the centuries, the disciples were and look instead at what they did.

What they did was, when they heard Jesus’ invitation to follow, they dropped everything they were doing . . . and they followed Him. 

They followed.

And yes, there was a cost, a significant cost: they gave up the lives they had known. They faced trials, and they suffered. But that’s not the whole picture, is it? There was, as there always is with Jesus, an exchange. They offered their lives, they offered their willingness to follow Jesus anywhere, and they received something in return, didn’t they? And it was the best exchange they ever made or ever could make. Because what they got in return was life. Here’s what Jesus gave them, in His own words: “more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” That’s from John chapter 10, verse 10.

When any of us says yes to Jesus and begins to experience this “more and better life,” we quickly begin to realize that what we give up in the exchange—our old lives, our old ways of coping and surviving—they pale miserably when compared to the kinds of lives Jesus offers and invites us into. 

We realize that, before, we were living, technically, but we weren’t really living.

Here’s how the apostle Paul wrote about it: “It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he’ll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ’s!” That’s Romans chapter 8, verses 9 to 11.

What’s holding you back, dear friend, from trusting and following Jesus with your whole heart? 

What’s keeping you from saying to Him, I’m all in?

It’s impossible, ahead of time, to understand or appreciate fully the difference between what Jesus is asking us to let go of, on one hand—those things keeping us from following Him all the way, those things we’re afraid of losing—and what He offers, on the other. But these Biblical stories are meant to inspire and challenge us to have the faith to trust Him nonetheless.

He can tell you that it’s “more and better life” than you’ve ever dreamed of. You can hear stories about how others have trusted Him and stepped into “more and better life” than they had ever dreamed of. But there’s no way around it. You’ll need to take that step of faith, yourself, to know for sure.

How ready are you to take that step?

Read again the words we heard from Holy Spirit—the very spirit of Jesus: “For here I am, standing before you. As real as the people you see in your home, as real as the people walking around outside. I am not far away. I stand before you and ask you if you want to be with Me, follow Me wherever I go. And let me tell you, there is nothing to fear. My plans for you—the things I say to you—are never something to fear.”

How ready are you to tell Him you’ll follow Him, wherever He goes?

How about this? Are you at least ready to surrender your fear?

We can all do that much. So, let’s do it now. Go ahead. Give it to Him now. 

Jesus, I hand over to you my fear of following You. Name it, friend, name your fear honestly. And show it to Him; He can handle it.

Now hand it to Him. And watch, in your mind, in your imagination, what He does with it.

Now, if you’re ready—and only if you’re ready—tell Him you’re all in. Tell Him you want to be with Him and that you’ll follow Him wherever He goes.

Jesus, I’m going to trust that what I get in this exchange is good beyond all imagination. I trust that if I am willing to exchange my current life for the kind of life you offer, what I get in return is greater, so much greater, than any cost. So, I don’t want to wait. Not any longer. Not for heaven. Not for things to get better or easier, or for any of the circumstances in my life to change. I want that kind of life now. 

I know You are here, in front of me, asking me follow You. And yes, with my whole heart, I say yes. Help me say yes.

In your name, Jesus, I pray. Amen.