Wednesday hit like a ton of bricks.

Mental paralysis and inactivity stem from fear. You hesitate to form your decision because you fear making a mistake. Decisions always precipitate activity. If your decisions are paralyzed by fear, your activity diminishes... When you can remember that your life is otherwise lifeless without Christ, you enhance your ability to take on great risks with boldness and confidence... You begin to dwell in a new way on the threshold of the incredible call He has placed on your life, which is to love the LORD your God with all your heart, mind, and strength. (Yes, even when it means mistakes, and failure, and being misunderstood, and late nights, and long anchoring jobs, and endlessly pursuing junior high and high schoolers.)

The call Christ has placed on each of our lives is incredible! We talk about being "called" to people, places, professions, volunteer staff positions, etc. But Christ has called us to so much more than "just" being on staff with Sonshine this summer, or attending the college of our choice in the fall, or being a student, nurse, engineer, musician, fill in the blank... The ultimate call is to Jesus himself, to love Yahweh our God with every aspect of our beings! Yikes!

I really needed this reminder and encouragement on Wednesday, because that mental paralysis has been far too familiar to me in the past week. It's been a bummer to let Satan steal so much of my joy. But with each new morning, I have the chance to let my life for those 24 hours be not about my fear, mistakes, and discouragement... but rather to let it be about letting Christ and his death on the cross infuse my otherwise lifeless body with his life! Then and only then can I truly be bold, un-self-conscious and fearless in my pursuit of his call on my life: to love him with all of my heart, mind, and strength.