No Place for Fear...

This came through a group posting that I follow. I love this message and this was a great time for the reminder. Courtesy of Greg Laurie and Harvest Ministries.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

No Place for Fear

So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” —Matthew 14:29–30

Peter was willing to put it all on the line. He and the other disciples had been straining against the waves and wind all night long when Jesus appeared to them, walking on the water. Wanting to prove his courage to Jesus, he made an amazing statement: “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water” (Matthew 14:28). These were rough seas, and Peter was willing to literally step onto them because He was looking at Jesus. That gave him confidence and courage.

It went well for awhile until Peter started to sink. And why did he sink? Because he took his eyes off Jesus and put them on other things. The Bible tells us, “When he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid” (verse 30).

Circumstances can be frightening. When your boss calls you in and tells you the company has to downsize and they are letting you go, when the doctor calls you with the test results that are not good, when you open that letter from an attorney that says you are being sued, it can scare you. It can devastate you. And it can cause you to take your eyes off Jesus.

Where fear reigns, faith is driven away. But where faith reigns, fear has no place. Faith and fear don’t mix. As you bring in faith, fear will walk out the back door. But if you invite fear as a resident in your life, then you will drive faith away.

Peter had faith. He had his eyes on Jesus. He was doing the impossible. But then he started to sink, because he took his eyes off Jesus. In his case, he looked at the wind. In our case, it might be something else. But when we forget God, we will start to sink.

Copyright © 2011 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to www.harvest.org
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You just never know...

Last Monday I wrote about certain milestones within the family, and yes, the kiddos had a great day at pre-school. Later that day I took Abbey to sewing class, stopped by the grocery store, went home and fixed dinner. Just hours later I was in the ER. You just never know...

I remember when my mother fell ill in the wee hours many years ago. There was such an unusual series of events leading up to it. At least a dozen reasons why I should be sound asleep and unable to hear her. But...I wasn't asleep, I did hear her, and we were able to get help. I have always been certain that God's hand was leading the day's events.

I can't help but believe that again. For two-weeks or so I had been having heart-rhythm concerns. A 4:00 am phone call (nobody on the line) woke us up and I soon realized I was feeling very odd. That feeling got worse and I was having typical heart-attack warning signs. Off to the hospital we went.

Monitors, IV's, blood work...all was going well. They gave me the 1st of 3 Nitroglycerin tablets to ease the pressure I was feeling on my chest. Before the 2nd pill I suddenly felt dizzy and knew I was going to pass out. My heart stopped for 20-seconds. Everything went into high gear at that point.

Ambulance ride to the larger hospital, multiple tests, pacemaker surgery Wednesday morning, home Thursday afternoon.

Pretty standard, right? Well, not really. The heart rhythm issues I was having turned out to be harmless. The chest pressure, weakness in left arm, tingly fingers, etc... we have no idea why. My heart tests came back fine.

What we did learn was that I have something called malignant vasovagal syncope. It means I pass out a lot. Generally caused by situations which lower my blood-pressure and an over-reaction within my body. I think. The Nitroglycerin dropped my blood-pressure and the rest kicked in. That's when my heart stopped. That's a simplification but explains it pretty well.

So...even though my heart tests fine, I have a pacemaker. While the pacemaker won't stop me from passing out, it may give me a few extra seconds to get to safety and it should keep my heart beating through the episode.

So, in summary, I was concerned about my heart rhythm (harmless) which caused me to go to the hospital when the other symptoms kicked in (still don't know why) and during treatment for the heart symptoms, I fainted (while on a monitor) and we found something I have had my whole life. It's a great relief to know there's been a reason for all of the fainting through the years; it explains so much.

You just never know...but I do believe that God does.

Thank you, Lord!