2-14-10A fearislikemalaria

2-14-10
Sunday
16:17

Eiee, where to start? Uh…well the orphanage is doing alright (besides not having /= to pay the water bill).
Fear is like Malaria: it makes you stay up the first half of the night with a bad stomache ache, it keeps you up the rest of the night kneeling over a smelly pit latrine puking out every last ounce of fluid and solid that is in your stomache, then, when you drink water to rehidrate yourself, it makes you puke that up to, then it makes you dry heave (attempt to puke when your stomache I already empty), then it keeps you in bed for the entire next day, with nausea and a head ache, and a terrible back ache (possibly brought on by the preceding night’s puking)…so, fear isn’tlike Maleria in those ways so much. But malaria was like that. But, a bunch of people prayed for me (including Hellen, who also gave me flowers. [did I mention that God has given her the gift of timing?]…if she was younger…). And the day after, I was running around playing Futbol. The day after that, I took medicine for Malaria.
Fear is like malaria: it is a parasite. Sometimes you feel it, sometimes you don’t. the longer you ignore it, the harder it is to get rid of it. If the symptoms alone are treated, it often kills you (spiritually). It makes it hard for you to think straight. Even after it is confronted and treated, it can live inside of you. Only God can completely get it out of your blood!
God wants to confront our fear, and heal us from it. He wants us to be whole. He wants us to know perfect Love (incoming + outgoing). The Love of God is deeper, longer, higher, and wider than the claws of any fear can reach. (Ephesians 3). No realization of the worst fear or failure coming true can separate us from the Love of God (Rom 8:31-39). God wants us to be free of fear (2 tim 1:7). Knowing, believing, embracing, receiving, and giving God’s Love leaves no room in us for Fear (1 john 4:18-19). We have no reason to fear, because God has already redeemed us. He made us, He redeemed us, He calls us, He knows us personally and intimately, He has made us His own and adopted us, He is with us in impossible trials and opposition, He protects us from overwhelming forces, He guards us from even imminent destruction or failure, He completely cares for us, and He is realy really powerful and smart, and on top of all that, He even knows the future, so… “Fear Not”. (Isaiah 43:1-3). I have had fear about being a bad chioice on God’s part to teach Benja and Peter about God, the Word, the Way, the Truth, the Life, the Law, the Love, Christ’s Blood, and the Holy Spirit.
My good friend Daniel Lipparelli (whose name I may have spelled wrong) said (something like) “if God opened the door for you to teach them, then they don’t need a better teacher, or a better communicator, right now they need a Timo” (God knows what we need, so if He uses you to meet a need, He does so for a reason. He equips us as we Follow Him.) sweet eh?