A well-needed reminder

I know that I haven´t written much about my faith and new revelations, except a sentence here or there...so now is the time. This morning was a little bit difficult for me because I tried to call my mom, but she wasn´t getting a good signal and the calls kept getting cut off, so I couldn´t really talk to her. For some reason it really upset me and I resorted to what I do best...crying. :-) I am doing better now, but I think there will always be hard moments when I realize that I can´t just make a simple phone call to the people I love most.

So anyways, I sat down to read my Bible. I have been following a reading plan to read the Bible in a year and I´ve been keeping up fairly well. My main problem is getting something out of it everyday. But I figure if I am faithful in my commitment to read the Word every day, God will eventually reveal something to me when the time is right. Today I got a reminder that I needed. I was in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles reading about the different Kings that ruled and how some where faithful to the Lord, and some were not. It goes back and forth constantly. In a sense this made me feel more ¨normal¨ I guess you could say. At times I am much closer to God than others. I always want to be improving my relationship and growing in my faith but, let´s face it, it doesn´t always happen like that. What I need to then focus on is not how far away I am getting, but instead how to draw closer. I need to always focus on renewing my strength in Him and my commitment to Him. God will reward me for that.
It´s normal to go through these cycles...I´m reminded of that. What is important is how I respond to the times where I feel farther away. Will Christ capture my heart again?? I hope and pray that I never give it away to a lesser cause.

Second, I flipped to Jeremiah and read something that challenged me in a huge way.

Jeremiah 1:4-10
The word of the Lord came to me:

I chose you before I formed you in the womb;
I set you apart before you were born.
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.

But I protested, ¨Oh no, Lord God! Look, I don´t know how to speak since I am only a youth.
Then the Lord said to me:

Do not say: I am only a youth, for you will go to everyone I send you to and speak whatever I tell you. Do not be afraid of anyone, for I will be with you to deliver you. This is the Lord´s declaration.

Then the Lord reached out His hand, touched my mouth, and told me:

Look, I have filled your moth with my words.
See, today I have set you over nations and kingdoms
to uproot and tear down,
to destroy and demolish,
to build and plant.

Wow! If that doesn´t get rid of any and all excuses that I have to not follow the Lord´s will for my life! I feel, and have felt for awhile now, very strongly called to missions, yet my fear holds me back. And I have a lot of fears, which in turn conjure up excuses. My prayer now is that God will reveal to me my fears and show me how to battle them. I don´t want fear to rule my life...I want the will of God to rule it! Can you help me in this prayer?