Shadows

Fear.

It might just be something I struggle with…but I have a feeling we all do to some extent.

To be completely honest, I’m at a point in my life where almost every decision, every “big event” in life is unknown to me. I’m spending my summer in Guatemala, which I know a terrifyingly little amount about. I don’t have all my funds raised yet actually…which determines if I go, and I have no control over that. I have no idea what I’m supposed to “do with my life” and I’m spending thousands upon thousands of dollars that I will somehow have to pay back in the future on my education. I could go on…but I’d rather stop thinking about it all.

Instead I’d rather focus on something else. The cross.

I have no idea what is in store for my life or even the path that God is calling me to follow, but I know one thing…He does. I’m not meant to know what lies ahead. God’s timing is perfect.  This is all very cliché, but truth.

Unavoidably, there will be times of sorrow and suffering in life, no matter how hard we fight for control. I think that instead of focusing on the fear that comes with so much unknown, we should fix our eyes upon the cross of Christ.

What a great and terrible cost it was that bought our freedom. So much suffering was involved.  How can we say that we are fearful that Christ won’t be able to get us through life? He is the giver of life, the author of salvation, and creator of not only our world, but the whole universe. He can handle our "issues."

I guess what I’m trying to say is summed up best by a line in a Tenth Avenue North song:

“You don’t have to be afraid, fear is just a lie.”

Christ may call you to suffer with for Him's namesake. If so, rejoice in the fact that He has decided to give you such a task, and seek to bring Him glory through it.

You’re resting in the shadow of the cross.

Shadows---David Crowder Band Feat. Lecrae

Life is full of light and shadow
O the joy and O the sorrow
O the sorrow

And yet will He bring
Dark to light
And yet will He bring
Day from night

When shadows fall on us
We will not fear
We will remember

When darkness falls on us
We will not fear
We will remember

When all seems lost
When we're thrown and we're tossed
We'll remember the cost
We're resting in the
Shadow of the cross

With every breath I take, every heart beat
Sunrise and the moon lights in the dark street
Every glance, every dance, every note of a song
All a gift undeserved that I shouldn't have known
Every moment I lie, Every moment I covet
I'm deserving to die, I'm earning your judgment
I, without the cross there's only condemnation
If Jesus wasn't executed there's no celebration
So in times that are good, in times that are bad
For any time I've had it all I will be glad
And I will boast in the cross, I boast in His name
I will boast in the sunshine, boast in His reign
What's my life if it's not praising You
Another dollar in my bank account of vain pursuit, I do
That count my life as any value or precious at all
Let me finish my race, let me answer Your call