Encouraging - Fear

When God calls people to do something, their initial response is almost always fear. If there is a challenge in front of you, a course of action that could cause you to grow and that would be helpful to people around you, but you find yourself scared about it, there’s a good chance that God is in that challenge. Take it a step further. If you’re not facing any challenges too big for you, if it has been a while since you have felt scared, there’s a real good chance that you’ve been sitting in the chair too long….

What really matters when God calls you to do something is not whether or not you feel inadequate. Of course you will; you are in adequate. So am I. That’s why God promises to go with us. What matters is your decision. Only people who say yes to challenge, demand, and risk are ever fully alive….

Sometimes people say no. Every time you say no to God – you change a little. Your heart gets a little harder. Your spirit dies a little. Your addiction to comfort gets a little stronger.

John Ortberg, When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box (Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI: 2007), 142-144.