Losing the Weight

I'll do a quick update on life this past week a little later, but I felt compelled to write about something a little different today.  We've talked about trying out various churches on the island and today we visited the Lowcountry Community Church in Bluffton.  It's not the typical church I like to attend but I really think I was supposed to be in that sermon today.  Today's message was about losing the weight of fear.  It's part of a series on losing weights of different varieties (debt, guilt, etc.) in order to be more in touch with Christ.

The pastor talked about three of the most common fears and how to combat them:

• Rejection
• Being out of control
• Death

It's no secret that I'm a bit of a control freak, so to hear what the pastor had to say about the fear of being out of control is what made me feel like I was in the right place.  My mind starts reeling when I think about how small I am in a big world and how little I actually am in control of.  But it's essential to stop. And think. About the three things we can do when we are out of control:  flee, grasp, or worship.  Little by little, we have to learn how to replace this fear and say "I don't know why, but I know YOU."

I didn't think the fear of rejection would be too relevant to me, but I let myself be open to what was said.  Our self-esteem is fragile and who doesn't want to be accepted?  I am who I am and of course I have flaws.  But I also have other amazing qualities if you wait around for them.  Being yourself means being vulnerable to rejection from others.  But, rejection from others is out of your control and the most important audience won't reject you.

The last fear is one I've been struggling with lately in what I'm calling my "almost quarter-life crisis."  The key points from the sermon about fear of death is that we fear it if we don't understand it and if we face it alone.  Death and forever are two insanely big concepts for me to grasp, but this is where trust and faith get the most practice.

I was so glad to have been able to hear some much-needed words and I've got just a few more to leave you with:

"We lose the weight of our fears when we understand the strength of His love."