Day 14 of 21 Days of Courage

Philippians 3:12-14

¹² I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. ¹³ No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it,^[a^] but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
 

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Many people are motivated to move past their fears and in the direction of their passion by activating what Bill Hybels calls “holy discontent.” In his book by the same title, Hybels explains that, when we consider the problems in our world, that particular situation we “just can’t stand” and that we cannot get out of our minds is usually the locus of our holy discontent—a passion sent from God and ignited by our particular response to some aspect of the world’s need.

For example, I know of two college students in Texas who became convicted about the problem of sex trafficking. The horror of young girls being abducted and victimized as they were sent into the maw of the sex trade was an image these two young women simply could not get out of their minds. So, they decided to take action. They founded a group called the Red Thread Movement that sponsored efforts to rescue women and girls from the sex trade, with a concentration in the nation of Nepal, where sex trafficking is a major industry. Every year, an estimated eleven thousand women and girls are trafficked from Nepal into India and other destinations. They are sold into the sex trade by their families, by their husbands, and by kidnappers.

The Red Thread Movement got its name from the simple red thread bracelets—woven by the rescued women—that the movement sells to raise money for funding its efforts. The money goes to pay a fair wage to women who make the bracelets and also to fund efforts of the border monitors and halfway houses that form the all-important first links in the chain of the rescue effort. The border monitors are women who stand at border crossings all day, watching for women who exhibit the signs of trafficking victims. Once they are identified and taken away from traffickers, the rescued women are taken to one of three safe houses operated by the Red Thread Movement’s partner organization in Nepal. There, the women receive training, counseling and, most important of all, hope.

None of this would be possible without the efforts of these two visionary and passionate young women who paid attention to their holy discontent. They found the place in their hearts, described by Frederick Buechner, where their passion intersected with the world’s deep need, and they had the courage to follow where that passion led. At last count, this grassroots organization, started by two college students, was helping to fund the rescue of some fifteen hundred victims per year.

What fuels your inner fire? It may well be that the thing keeping you up at night is not fear but passion. I urge you to listen to that passion. It may very well be the dream God has shaped for you to fulfill.

Something interesting happens to those who begin following their passion - fear is replaced by a sense of calling. They become more focused on the object of their passion than they formerly were on the fear that was blocking the path.  

When we follow our passion and allow it to be channeled into action, we realize that our former fears are not as formidable as we first thought. Instead, the uncertainties and worries that seemed so insurmountable before have receded. Propelled by divine discontent, we notice less and less our impediments and problems, while noticing more and more the opportunities lying before us and the tools God is giving us to take advantage of them. We receive the strength that comes with conviction and the vision that comes with faith. And while this does not mean that all difficulties will disappear, it does mean that we are much better equipped to handle them than we were when we were standing still, mired in fear of the unknown.

-Pete