shooting blanks

On Saturday I went canvassing the neighborhood with the church we are settling into here. We were inviting people to the Easter Sunday services and a children's Easter Egg Hunt. I don't know why it was so hard for me to find the guts to actually go. I guess I'm afraid someone will scream at me or their dog will attack me. (I really am afraid of big dogs.)

It reminded me of something that Pastor Russ (my pastor in Connecticut) said awhile ago that stuck with me. He was speaking about how followers of Christ are so afraid to step out in faith and witness to others, but the Enemy is really shooting blanks. He uses our fear to prevent us from sharing Christ. By giving into that fear, we allow him to have power over us, when often the fear is unfounded.

We went to about 20 houses, and no one screamed at me. (No dog attacks either.) And one person seemed genuinely interested in coming to church. On other occasions when I've shared with people about Christ, they are more open, interested, and hungry for spiritual truth than I imagined.

I was encouraged. And in the end, really glad that I was able to walk into the line of fire, only to realize that it wasn't as dangerous as I thought.