Fear Not

"Fear not." Fear not is a promise we have heard our whole lives.
It was whispered, "Don't worry, you'll be fine" when you scratched your knee for the first time. Or when you cried at birth and
someone who loved you was right there to comfort you. It's one of the main thing
God tells us too. "Fear not of me." "Fear not for I am with you." "Fear not by learning about this perfect love I taught you."
So why do we fear?
Why do we hold back from our own emotions, the truth we know, and the dreams we have?
Fear consumes us on a daily basis whether we regonize it or not. I decided not to come here to Costa Rica, and only ended up
here a week later after asking myself the question "Why not?". Fear. I went through a phase in sixth grade where I reallyy wanted to be
good at soccer. I remember practicing almost every day and then one day when watching Maddy's soccer game, I gave up my
trying because I saw how hard it would be to be the best. Why? Fear.
It's not fear of failure alone that holds us back. It is often the comfort of our lifes, our routines, the things
that we know hold us back from stepping out without fear. Every day is a new challenge to fear not, to brave not only this new
culture, but also myself and the fear I am prone to. Last weekend, I woke up and felt so overjoyed to be sitting in my bed in my pajamas.
After a long week I deserved it. I looked outside at the brillantly sunny day and considered walking up to the rainforest reserve
but rejected my idea, thinking again how nice it was to just be sitting here. This is when I caught myself, in the midst
of a gentle fear pulling me away from experiencing all I could be doing. I got out of bed, putting all my strength in God because
I could not find it in myself and put on my sneakers to go hiking. The strength I found seemed a result of overcoming that fear
and sharing with God an experience where I could only depend on Him because I was so outside of myself. And wow. Lifechanging
it was to be up in the reserve looking at white faced monkies and avoiding stepping on tarantulas. Jesus is waiting
to walk with us right outside our comfort zones with His promise, "Fear not" to show us spectacular things.