DON'T BE AFRAID OF YOURSELF

DON’T BE AFRAID OF YOURSELF

You may or may not know it, but I have the fondest affection for poetry.  So I shall share one of my all-time favorites with you on today.  It’s a poem by Robert Frost, popularly known as “The Road Less Traveled,” but originally entitled “The Road Not Taken.”  Enjoy!

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

My friend, please consider that whenever the major events of our faith were proclaimed in The Holy Writ, they were typically preceded by the following divine pronouncement: “FEAR NOT!” (Luke 2:10) In fact, this powerful phrase appears (in one form or another) approximately 170 times in scripture.  By the sheer number of biblical inclusions, it seems obvious that GOD is trying to tell us something.  There is one mission-critical truth that constitutes a vital aspect of our faith journey, i.e. the need to have total trust in HIM and to maintain complete confidence in the purposes and plans that have divinely and uniquely positioned us on this planet.

Believe it or not, some people exist in literal FEAR OF THEMSELVES.  Consider this.  While it is commendable to have the desire to get along with others, you and I were not created to BLEND IN with every person or every situation.  Just because someone does not seem to understand you, i.e. those individual quirks and idiosyncrasies that are part and parcel of your overall life experience, there is absolutely no need to ‘discard’ yourself and become a carbon copy or clone of anyone else.

Bottom-line: Don’t be afraid to walk down THOSE less traveled roads, thereby manifestING the uniqueness of YOU.  Truthfully speaking, when GOD made YOU, He threw away the mold!  Please understand the spirit of my words.  In no way am I seeking to minimize CHRIST in order to maximize YOU.  After all, true believers are being daily conformed to “the image of Christ.” (Romans 8:29) What I am saying here is that there is something so uncommon and so special about God’s design and destiny for you that (while you are being constantly transformed into the image of His Son) The Father never seeks to nullify or eliminate the particular person(ality) that He especially created and crafted before the day of your birth.  Therefore, you must understand it; you must embrace it; and, you must use it for His glory.  This is a sure pathway to personal joy and life fulfillment.

Sisters and brothers, be continually blessed, and please (above all else) MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY TO MEET OUR SOON COMING KING.  Maranatha!