The Mountain of Fear and Father's Love

On our journey to being radically loved there are many, if not all, that will face the mountain of fear in their lives.  I would doubt those who say they have no fear, are actually telling the truth.  We asked our group of home school kids and their parents this question, "What would you do if you had no fear?"  We got amazing answers and things that would impact the world, fear moves to keep us trapped within the confines of it's prison.  I have realized as one who grew up with so much orphan thinking and in an environment of fear, the mountain of fear often mocks and seeks to intimidate me on my journey.  Like Abraham who God called away from the land of his fathers, to pursue the promise and a new land I must leave the land of constant fear, worry, unbelief, and loneliness that I grew up in.  I believe a big part of going on the adventure of faith is leaving the land of your father, meaning there are mindsets, beliefs, and ways of living life that you will need to leave to step into your destiny.  One definition of destiny that I thought was powerful is:   "a predetermined course of events often held to be an irresistible power or agency."  When we are born again the Father has placed in us a destiny that becomes awakened, a God-given design and purpose that is unique but is only fulfilled as we come close to Him as a son or daughter.

I had an encounter with the Father where He revealed to me that fear is not so much the presence of something but the absence of love.  Where we have fear is where we have a love deficit.  In 1 John 4:7-8, we are told, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.  He who does not love does not know God, for God is love."  In this chapter it goes on to say that "...there is no fear in love because perfect love casts out fear..."  The Father's Love "in Christ" is greater than fear but why does it feel like at times that the mountain of fear is so much bigger.  I know there are others who have not had that experience but realistically most of us have been in the shadow of the mountain of fear.  I think of the 2 men who just spent 19 days free climbing El Capitan, a 3,000 foot vertical face, of the largest piece of granite on the earth.  One climber said, "It took everything in my power to stay positive and resolved that I would succeed."  What it took to climb this huge granite face that no one had ever free climbed is amazing, yet one of the climbers said, "this not an effort to 'conquer'.  It's all about realizing a dream."  I realized that the only way to move past the mountains on our way to our destiny is to stay focused on the dream that God has birthed in your heart.

Finally, I dream of people (especially me) being so flooded and overwhelmed by the Father's love that we are compelled to love a hurting and dying world at any cost.  These people that are flooded with the Father's love and so understand the magnitude of His love that they are actually looking for the broken, the forgotten, and the ones in the darkness to see them rescued and brought home to His love.  They see the impossible fall, not simply because of great faith but because they know the substance of the Father's love must be revealed.

In Father's Love,
Bret