There is no doubt—we live in troubled times. It may feel hard to concentrate on your spiritual life when you face financial challenges, when the world seems to be in turmoil.
You may find that the children you work with and minister to are also stressed. We know of two families, friends we’ve developed through our kids’ sports activities, who are losing their homes to foreclosure. Another friend is out of work, and has been for six months. Every time he’s on the verge of getting a job, it seems, the company he’s talking to will announce a hiring freeze.
The children in your care face these pressures too—watching their parents fight about money, seeing their father unemployed, having to move out of their home because their family can no longer afford the rent or mortgage.
It would be easy to give in to fear in times like these. But I want to encourage you with the commandment most often repeated in the Bible: “Do not be afraid.”
What is the opposite of fear? Courage, right? But where does courage come from? It comes from the true opposite of fear, which is love. Joshua 1:9 says “Be strong and courageous, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” That relationship of love, the presence of the LORD, Yahweh, will enable you to be courageous. If we are brave, we are not so for bravery’s sake. We are brave for the sake of another—whether a loved one, our country, our people. Courage flows out loving, and out of knowing that we are loved. Our courage is inspired by that which we value.
What will equip us to minister in times when we ourselves might feel afraid? We need to become aware of what’s going on in our hearts. Do we listen to the voice of fear, or the voice of love? Do we believe in scarcity or abundance?
In my book Listen: Finding God in the Story of Your Life, I wrote:
“The voice of fear whispers that there is not enough—certainly not enough money or stuff, but on a deeper level it also claims that there is not enough love. And that the world is so dark and such a mess that any effort to let the light shine through is just futile. There just is not enough love or joy or purpose. Believing in scarcity will take us to a bleak place—a place where we start to think that if there is a bit of love and joy, there’s not enough, so if someone else has those things, then there will be less for everyone, especially me. The universe’s supply of love and joy and purpose will be depleted. There is simply not enough of anything.
“The voice of love, on the other hand, says there is plenty. Come to the table where God is serving a feast. God is love and power and joy, and God is limitless. So the power and creativity and love and joy is limitless; and in fact, by listening to God’s voice of love, we receive, and in so doing we create. We spread this love and power and joy by simply receiving it and realizing there’s enough to share.”
The Bible says, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18).
In other words, fear and love are opposites. So we must choose which will rule our hearts. And that choice will affect not only our relationship with God, but our ability to love others. We cannot give away what we don’t have.
One of the greatest gifts we can give the children we care for is the gift of being a safe person. We want our classrooms to be safe places for children, but are we safe people? It’s hard to be a comfort to others when you are ruled by fear. The safest people, when it comes to relationships, are people who listen to the voice of love enough to know that they are beloved. That enables them to see others in the same way.
Henri Nouwen wrote, “The greatest gift my friendship can give to you is the gift of your Beloved-ness. I can give that gift only insofar as I have claimed it for myself.”
Before you can communicate God’s love to the children you minister to, you must know it in your own life. You are God’s beloved, and that perfect love drives out fear. And enables you to call forth the beloved-ness of every person you encounter.
Listen to the voice of love. And as Jesus so often told us, “Do not be afraid.”
Keri Wyatt Kent is the author of six books, a retreat leader and speaker. Learn more at www.keriwyattkent.com, or connect with her on Facebook.
© 2008 Keri Wyatt Kent
