When I first met my wife she was deathly afraid of spiders. Upon the sight of a spider, she would scream and say, “Come and get this thing!”  In most cases, she would leave the area until the spider was killed and removed.

A few days ago I witnessed one of the most interesting things I have ever seen.  As my wife, a friend and I were planting flowers in our yard, a brown recluse spider emerged from the dirt.  My wife didn’t scream and yell, “Get it!”  To my amazement, she calmly said, “There’s a big, brown recluse spider.”  I spotted it and smashed it with a shovel.  A few minutes later my wife simply said, “There’s another brown recluse spider.”  No screaming or yelling.  She simply stepped on the spider and killed it with authority.  I was so proud of her!  That, my friends, is a victory.

My wife was able to move beyond her fear of spiders. She was on a mission and decided she wouldn’t let anything or anybody stand in her way of getting the job done.  As we celebrate communion today, we must proclaim as the songwriter said, “Because He lives all fear is gone.”  We must move beyond our fears to be in a position to do the work in ministry God called us to do.  I’m inspired by my wife to become even more fearless in my laboring for the Lord.