From fear to faith

    The quote on my high school graduation cards was “be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire”. About a year and a half later, I found a canvas with the quote “once you become fearless, life becomes limitless”. I loved that quote enough to buy the canvas and hung it next to my mirror as a daily reminder that, with Christ, I have no reason to fear. Last week I sat down to consider decorating my college graduation cap when I came across the quote “I am fearless because He is faithful”. While the connection seems obvious now, for me these three events occurred across quite a bit of time so they were all separate events in my mind until graduation day. 
    As I sat there among all my fellow graduating Lopes, I found myself thinking back on my whole journey at GCU. The night before freshman move in day, I decided to embrace my graduation card quote and promised God that whoever He wanted me to be and whatever He wanted me to do, I would forget the fear and go for it. That promise is what opened my heart up to apply for GCU’s Streetlight ministry team, the beginning of my journey to Free to Hope. 
    From there, prayerfully sticking to my promise, I embraced the vision of Free to Hope and wrestled with fear on a level I’ve never experienced before. It was as I wrestled with these fears that I came across the canvas. As cliche as it might sound, seeing that canvas when I did was an encouragement from God to keep pushing through the fear so that I can experience the abundance of favor, blessings, and joy on the other side. It was around that time that I also heard Elevation Worship’s new song “Here Again” for the first time and I may have to do a whole separate post about how much of an encouragement that song has been for me. Keeping the words of that quote and the lyrics of “Here Again” constantly in the back of my mind for months, the fear eventually subsided and I found myself with a peaceful confidence unlike anything I’ve ever known. 
    When I saw that last quote on Pinterest about fearlessness, I didn’t necessarily have a specific reason at the time for choosing it for my graduation cap. But, sitting there in the arena thinking back on my two and a half years at GCU, I realized how perfect of a tribute it was to close out my time there. Those two and a half years were my journey from fear to faith and God taught me more about Him, myself, and who I am in Him than I could have ever anticipated. With that, I am ecstatic to see what He has for me in this next season!