by: Doug Marco
“Click, click, click…” from the old wooden roller coaster was the most frightening thing I had ever heard that summer day in 1996. There is not a more exciting day to an adolescent than a day at an amusement park. For me, on that day, there wasn’t much amusement. I had dodged all of the attempts of my sisters to get me on a roller coaster; although my winning streak was about to come to an abrupt end. “Come on son, you’re getting on this one”, was the last thing I heard before my heart dropped into my Goodwill sneakers. I could hardly find the line through the watering of my eyes, but Dad guided me to where we needed to go. “Hail Mary full of grace… Our father who art in Heaven…bless this food. Amen.” and every other prayer I could muster came out of my mouth as this extremely short line was getting ever shorter. By this point, I felt like a dog being led to the euthanasia chamber. I even think there might have been a puddle at my feet. When I thought all hope was lost, I sighed one final prayer. It went something like this, “Oh gracious and Heavenly Father, you know I can’t do this! Please, please, please do something, I beg of you!!!” Just moments after whispering those words, God did something completely amazing. See, the sun is super-hot in Texas and my poor, little, 5 foot 85 lb., 15 year old sister didn’t stand a chance. She caught a sudden attack of heat exhaustion and fainted, hitting her head on the concrete walk way. My winning streak continued!
As we rushed her to shade, I knew God had answered my prayer in some awkward way. I had always heard that God works in mysterious ways, but I didn’t know how mysterious till then. After that, the deafening roar and the creaking wood of that giant roller coaster didn’t seem so bad after all, until about three years later when I found myself in the same predicament. Although some of the characters had changed, my paralyzing fear had not. This time, I was with my youth group, and I knew if I chickened out I would be the laughing stock of that activity. It didn’t help that I was a tad nerdy anyway. I prayed for another miracle. I even went as far as to have a bottle of water on hand and one of those carnival stuffed animals to soften the fall of my sister, but to no avail. It wasn’t long before I was strapped into that death trap with my sunburned knuckles turning snow white. I was screaming at the top of my lungs, when I was reminded by the old lady next to me that the ride hadn’t started yet.
“Click, click, click…” and we were on our way. As we reached the top of the first hill, everything got fuzzy, and I’m pretty sure I blacked out for a moment before being slapped in the face with my stomach! The ride roared, swerved, screeched and clacked, I could barely breathe. It seemed that no hope was in sight. The fear I felt, was nothing like I could imagine. I wanted it all to stop!! As I exited the most frightening experience of my life, I began to run as fast as my little legs could take me back to the front of the line to experience it all over again. The fear was still there, but it was suppressed by the joy that I was still alive and I wanted to do it again.
Now you might be saying, “What does this goofy story have to do with the title of this article?” Well, allow me to share my thoughts. This month marks my fifth year living in the ministry completely by faith. I was called to be a missionary at a young age, and I always dreamed of the day I could start my ministry. Well, little did I know that my first experience on a roller coaster would become the rest of my life. I had always heard there was a fine line between faith and foolishness, but after these few years serving God, I can honestly say that line doesn’t exist. I prefer to look at it as I am just foolish enough to live by faith.
When I started deputation, I didn’t take the advice of some who said to wait until I had 10% of my support coming in before going full speed ahead. With less than half of a percent of support coming in, we packed up our little Chevy Malibu and with hardly any room in the back seat for our little boy, we hit the road. Times were seriously rough and full of fear. Our life began to take swerves and spins, and it seemed too hard at times to hold on. There were days I didn’t know how I was going to feed my family or even afford diapers for our baby. Those days came far too often. One day we would be at the very top, and then like a meteor, it seemed we would plummet to the bottom once again. In the midst of all of this fear and woe, God delivered again and again! Although the fear of living by faith seemed overwhelming, the joy of seeing God come through kept us getting in line over and over again. At times I felt I couldn’t breathe and I saw no hope in sight, then my God delivered again! In those five years, our family has been used to help start two independent, nationally pastored, Baptist churches along with sending a portion of God’s Word into twenty-five countries, and seeing over 18,000 people come to Christ. Currently, we are serving in the city of Talisay, on the island of Negros in the Philippines. Here are some things I have learned along the way.
1. You will never live by faith if you can’t hold on.
The darkest hour means dawn is just in sight. Remember, Heaven doesn’t run off our time zone. Be patient and let God build your faith. Your knuckles might turn white, but hold on! You might be breathless, but hold on! My missions’ teacher and hero taught me that true faith is Forsaking All I Trust Him. Forsake the fears and hold on. Forsake the urge to jump and hold on. Faith is a scary ride, and it is not for the faint of heart. If you have a weak heart, hold on!! God will come through, and soon the joy of answered prayer will have you running to the front of the line for more.
2. Remember that the One Who called you, goes with you.
Hey Jack, you’re not on this ride alone!! You may have never seen the curve that is up ahead, but thank God, He has. Although it might have been my first trip down the tracks of that roller coaster, it sure wasn’t the cart’s first trip. That sure made it much more comforting and the ride easier to handle. The cart knows when to turn to the left or to the right, just let it do its job and you do yours. Sit still and let God move.
3. Always remember God can do again what He has done before.
Far too many of us fret and fear even after God has provided. It is almost as if we have forgotten all together that God has been on time, every time! We are making our lives much harder because we lose sight of the blessings God has already provided. Jonah is a perfect example of this type of lifestyle. Jonah had it made, all he had to do was just simply go and do what God had asked him to do. I have no doubt that Jonah had seen the mighty hand of God move in his favor, but Jonah forgot and quickly found his fear through forgetfulness. This brought him a whale of hurt. Jonah was the cause of his whale, and you will be the cause of yours if you exchange those memories of God’s goodness with doubts of his ability to provide your every need.
4. Prayer is the best fear suppressant.
In all my years of riding roller coasters the fear has never truly faded. In this life of faith, the fear never truly fades either, but it can be suppressed by praying and fasting. While preparing for this article, my family had a need and I did not know how it would be met. I felt that all avenues had been explored to find an answer. As I spent the past few days in prayer, my fear gave way to faith, and like before, God, in some miraculous way that is unfathomable to me, provided yet again! Let God know those things that are causing you to have sleepless nights. Bundle all your burdens and fears and take them to the throne room of Jesus and let Him worry about them.
5. Go through every door God opens for you.
Our support has never been as high as was suggested, and at times our statement looks as anemic as a starving child somewhere in Africa, but I can honestly say we have walked through every door that God has opened for our ministry. I am a firm believer that at the moment you walk through those doors, God is obligated to take care of you. The moment you hesitate and don’t take that step in faith, His obligation to care for you will also stop. I cannot do for my family what God can do, so I’m better off moving forward as He clears the way.
Some of you like Jonah, are in the belly of the beast and wonder why God has forsaken you. Have you ever considered that it was you that forsook Him? It took Jonah three days too many to come to that conclusion. Next time you read the book of Jonah, you might realize that it is two chapters too long. It should have gone from Jonah chapter 1 verse 1 to Jonah chapter 3 and verse 3. Two chapters of self-inflicted hardship, stress and grief. When it is all said and done, how many extra chapters will be in your book? The rest of the world might think you’re crazy to live by faith. I don’t think I’m crazy; I’m just a fool forsaking all, trusting Him!
Doug Marco
Missionary to Philippines
http://marcofamilytotheworld.com