Going Scared

A few years ago I was sitting in a large group of Believers on a Sunday morning when suddenly the leader stopped and said to me, "You have been going to Africa for several years, so you go with complete confidence and no fear, right?"  My head knew the answer he was seeking, but my heart jumped into my mouth and said, "I go scared every time."  The class erupted in laughter and the point he was trying to make dissolved into oblivion.

I've thought about that moment many times since then, realizing that it is not really fear (lack of trust in God) that most team members experience as much as it is a humbleness of heart and a sincere desire to follow after the things of God and not after the things of man. It's a feeling of not wanting to fail Him and wanting with every fiber of our beings to glorify God in all we do. You see, it is easy to become enthralled with the "coolness" of going to Africa.  After all, we're treated like rock stars there, mainly just because of the color of our skin.

I really like what Chuck Swindoll has to say on the subject of having a humble servant's heart.  He writes, "When you have a servant's heart, you're humble. You do as you're told. You don't rebel. You respect those in charge. You serve faithfully and quietly without concern over who gets the credit." He continues with, "A servant has one great goal, and that is to make the person he serves look better, to make that person even more successful. A servant does not want the person he serves to fail. A servant doesn't care who thinks what, just so the job gets done." (Click here to read the entire article)

Our goal with this mission is to serve God in such a way that only He gets the credit.  We want to exalt and glorify the name of Jesus for it is only by His great grace that we are able to go at all.

O Lord, you have heard the desire of the humble; you will strengthen their heart, you will incline your ear.

Ps. 10:17