During spring break, I stayed in Pass Christian (pronounced pass krish-tee-ann') at a place called Camp Gospel. I could see the beach from the camp. It was always beautiful.
Our first day of work, we picked up trash and debris. It was ridiculous. There wasn't as much trash as there were remnants of houses. My group found most of a bathroom--bathtub, part of a toilet, a sink still in the counter top, and even some really nice granite floor tiles. The group next to us covered an area maybe 35 feet long and 29 feet wide and stayed there all day because of the amount of debris in that one small location. It was great: it was an adventure finding as much junk as possible.
Anyway, during this first escapade, we came across a sleeping water moccasin (aka very poisonous snake). It was not so fun anymore finding bathroom parts. This sense of fear came over me and I no longer was enjoying this experience. I finally realized what fear felt like, at least some kind of fear. It was a knowledge that I could die if I got bit and I could get bit by cleaning out this swamp land.
So then, how does "perfect love cast out fear" like it says in the Bible? I knew that what I was doing was for the Lord and the snakes had no power over me. If He wanted one to bite me so be it, but they couldn't do anything to me that God didn't first permit. And besides, if I did die, I would go to Heaven to be with my Savior face to face forever. A love for God and His presence which led to a love for His work and His Kingdom cast out the fear and I was once again able to have an amazing time (though perhaps with a little more caution).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment