From Fear to Passion

I glanced from the bed of Mundo’s pickup at the halted truck before us.  The policeman saw us coming and quickly reached his hand into other man’s truck and pulled out a stack of Guatemalan bills, which he then slipped discretely into the newspaper in his other hand.  The officer waved the truck along and returned to his own vehicle where he pretended to resume a reading – as if nothing shady and unusual had just taken place.  As our own truck made its transition from the dirt path back onto the cement road, the truck that had been halted before, stopped again on the side of the road – this time the man gave us an awkward smile as he stepped down from his seat, as if to say, “I know you saw that – but you didn’t see anything!” and we drove on. 

Today’s venture required us to take a contraband road that connected Honduras and Guatemala.  We knew that many police officers were paid off in this area to keep the transportation of drugs between countries running smooth, and so seeing this scene should not have come as much of a surprise to me.  (But it did.)  I have found that it is moments like these that send reality-checking jolts through my mind and heart as I travel throughout third world cities and countries.  These scenarios first remind me of where I am, but then draw me into a reminiscent state of recounting how I came to be there, and why.     

As far back into my childhood as I can remember, and up until I was 18 years old, I had an unspoken fear of being in dark places.  I could not walk alone through dark parking lots without looking over my shoulder continuously to be sure I was not being followed or watched, as if darkness was only there to hide the evils that desired to have their way with me.  But this all changed when, at 18, I began believing Jesus’ words that I was the ‘light of the world’! With this perspective change I began to see myself as someone that gave darkness a reason to fear, rather than the other way around.  This revelation grew until I finally believed that there was no dark place on the earth I could go that would not be flooded with light when I walked in the front door. 

Darkness cannot be measured because it is formed in lack – that lack being in the place of illumination! In a sense, darkness is no more than a bold invitation for light to shine.       

God took what had once been my fear, and turned it into my passion! When referencing my dreams, I often tell people that, “I want to go to the darkest places of the world and watch God’s light shine in the midst!” And these words can sound impressive, but they are nothing in comparison to the life changing transition God’s goodness brought to make those words honestly expressible. 

Jesus’ words are life transforming when they are believed.  God did not bring a petty and shy gospel, but one of power and unfathomable love – that as people begin to trust Him at His word, the world is changed.