My wife bought a new faucet for the kitchen sink. It has been dripping for quite some time now. But not having any experience with plumbing, I was afraid to attempt the change. But after a $75 service call to fix our toilet, I thought I’d better try. Friday morning, I finished the job. It was fairly easy to remove the old faucet as there were shut off valves for hot and cold already installed. All it took was a pair of medium sized Channel-locks and about thirty minutes. I was ready to write this one down on my resume until my wife asked why the cold water lever gave hot water. Whoops!

All in all the project was not as difficult as I thought it would be. Each time I looked at the dripping faucet, I imagined a flooded kitchen and broken pipes, not to mention hundreds of dollars in plumbing repairs. But after the job was finished (I switched the hot and cold tonight) I realized that with patience, household projects are not always as difficult as my mind makes them to be.

The same is true with spiritual endeavors. Honestly, talking to people is not one of my favorite things to do. I would rather type on the computer, read a book, or preach to a congregation that doesn’t talk back. But ask me to speak one on one to somebody and I get nervous. Much of the problem is my imagination. I fear what the other person thinks. How will this person respond when I speak to him about Christ? What if I am asked a question for which I have no answer? This is foolishness, but happens more often than I care to admit.

The Lord has been encouraging me to speak more of late. Friday, while getting two new tires on the Saab, the Lord enabled me to speak with the owner about the Bible Club we are having at the Mentor Headlands Community Center. Then at the chiropractor this morning, I found out that the doctor was a Christian. The conversation went very well with both of us being encouraged by the mutual faith of the other. I am encouraged that God is working with me to overcome these foolish fears.