Not Afraid Anymore
September 3, 2018
NOTE: The following is the junior class valedictory address I [Julie Powers] gave at the September 2, 2018 graduation of the Faith Builders International Ministerial Academy (FBIMA) in De Soto, KS.
I would like to thank my Pastors for this opportunity to address this body and our guests.
If you have your bibles, please turn with me to Matthew 11. I have learned by observation from my Pastors that anything worth saying from the pulpit starts with a Scripture verse. Matthew 11:28. This is Jesus speaking.
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me: for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (KJV)
For my entire adult life, I have been afraid of the Call of God on my life. I knew there was a Call, but I feared the burden, and the cost of what I might miss or lose in pursuing it. I asked myself: How can I take up my Call, leave my life, and still find the yoke easy and the burden light? A Calling requires much discipline, dedication, and sacrifice. And even more than that, we are assured in the Word by Jesus Himself that there will opposition and persecution if we walk in the Way.
Yet, through the studying, reading, interning, and lectures of FBIMA, I am less afraid of my Calling today than I have ever been. In 2018, the Year of Gain, Transition and Victory, I have come to understand the verses of Matthew 11 in a way I never understood them before. I have a better understanding of the mystery of these verses. They're counterintuitive, much like sowing seed (tithes and offerings) is the way out of debt. Giving money to others in obedience and to honor God actually leads to prosperity. Giving my life, my free time, and my plans away in obedience and to honor God leads to a blessed, prosperous, and opportunity-filled life. Today, living any other kind of life now seems like a waste of time and foolishness.
One of the many valuable things I have gained from FBIMA has been an opportunity to observe my Pastors close up. The curriculum they chose, the topics they covered in the classroom, the caliber and heart of the teachers they carefully selected to teach the students speaks volumes about their intentions. Their goal, as I have come to understand it, is to grow and mature as many people as possible to live a God-directed life.
The saying goes: Give a man a fish and he will eat for one day, but teach a man to fish and he will eat every day, for the rest of his life. Jesus told Peter that he would teach his disciples to be fishers of men. FBIMA is designed to teach us to fish for ourselves and eventually mature us, so we can, in turn, teach others to fish. I am much closer to understanding my God-directed role in both my secular job and in the Body of Christ.
Thank you, Pastors, for your faithfulness to provide the focused learning opportunity of FBIMA. I know there were a hundred other things you could have been doing every Monday night for the last nine months, but you were here, pouring into us. It has been a tremendous blessing in my life, as I know it has been for my classmates. You have shown me in your example, that when the task is directed through the leading of the Holy Spirit the yoke IS easy and the burden IS light. It has truly been a year of Gain, Transition and Victory for me.
The pdf of the Faith Builders International Word for 2018: The Year of Gain, Transition and Victory can be found at www.buildfaith.net or downloaded here: https://storage.googleapis.com/wzukusers/user-26049504/documents/5a46bdcaedcf4XVqLLbC/2018%20WOTL%20Card%20Front.pdf.
