Retratos || Guarded in Peace
- Anna Portillo
- Jul 1
- 7 min read
TEMOR. FEAR. Ansiedad or anxiety of what may be. It creeps in from every side, and it threatens to paralyze us in life and particularly in ministry. Fear that dwindling resources will cause your church to close its doors. Ansiedad that speaking the truth in love may cause a sheep to turn tail and run. Temor that your church, faithfully seeking to serve the complex needs of the immigrant community, will be misunderstood by majority-culture churches in the same denomination that are facing different demographics and different struggles. Fear that a passion for speaking the Truth as it is found in God’s Word will come across as countercultural and contemptuous: within your context, or even within the church. And within Hispanic and immigrant contexts at this time in United States history, un gran temor that even the church will not be a place of safety and refuge; temor that the shepherds, los pastores will have to care for a scattered flock; ansiedad in what it looks like to love frightened ovejitas in and through the trials of life. The reality is that the harvest is plentiful, the workers are few, and the devil roams around like a roaring lion, seeking which vulnerable leader or congregation he can prey upon to destroy the ministry. Particularly in Hispanic ministry, fear is real. And yet, the Gospel welcomes us into the most glorious weapon against fear that allows pastors and leaders to continue boldly in the work to which the Lord has called them: guarded and kept secure by the promises of of His Word
CONFRONTING FEAR IN MINISTRY
The Apostle Paul’s familiar words in Philippians 4:6 invite believers to “not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Too often, it is easy to read this verse as a rebuke, and a command to buck up: “Do NOT be anxious!...Just pray!” The implication is: “you’re afraid? You’re not praying hard enough… your faith is too weak.” But in truth, fear is a reality of living in a world broken by sin. The effects of sin, and our own broken relationships with the Living God bring a healthy (and unhealthy) dose of fear into every aspect of life. And it is for this reason that the command to not fear is often recognized as the most repeated commandment in the entire Bible. “Fear not!” the Lord tells His people in Isaiah, “for I am with you” (Isaiah 40:5a, emphasis added). “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,” the Psalmist writes, “No temerá mi corazón/I will fear no evil, for you are with me…” (Psalm 23:5, emphasis added). As Peter disappears into the water, terrified of the crashing waves he sees all around him, the Lord reaches out His hand and saves Peter from his panic, because Jesus was with him (see Matthew 14:22-33). We are invited to cry out in our fear because of what is already true: El Señor está con nosotros. God is with us. Not after we have cried out and conquered our fears, but in the midst of them.
The devil roams about like a roaring lion, seeking especially to take out those who are doing the work of the Lord. It is his desire and goal to hinder the Word of God going forth. It is his desire to put anxiety into the hearts of those serving the Lord, such that they become paralyzed with fear of what may happen, and find ways out. The reality of being in ministry, and of serving a vulnerable population that desperately needs the truth of the Gospel, is that the cost of ministry is high. The cost of serving the Lord faithfully in spite of everything that may come can bring fear to the human heart. It can make us unwilling to engage, or cave to pressures to do less than what the Lord has required.
A PROMISE OF PEACE
And yet, the invitation of Paul in Philippians 4:6 to pray and cast all our anxieties upon the Lord comes with an incredible promise, one we are too quick to forget in the focus on the fear, or the focus on our own efforts to be rid of anxiety. As we learn to come to the Lord in our fears, as we learn to cast our anxieties and requests upon Him who is with us in the midst of them, the promise is that “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). God Himself, with His presence and through His Word guards our hearts and our minds from being crippled by the fear and anxiety that would hinder His work in and through us. As we come to Him in and with our fears, we find that He offers His peace to face the trials, knowing that He will guard and protect our hearts and minds from becoming paralyzed, from becoming embittered, from the slavery to building our own image or our own platforms.
The promise as Christians, and particularly in ministry, is not for the way to be easy. “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you,” Jesus tells his disciples (John 15:20). As pastors and leaders, this truth should be familiar. Even so, it is too easy to find ourselves shocked by the implications of this, and torn down or discouraged when we face the realities of proclaiming God’s truth in a broken world. Yet Paul’s words in Philippians invite us to stand firm, to be strong--not because of our own resolve or the strength of our ministry, but because, in HIM, the Lord is with us. He walks with us into the midst of the fears of ministry, and the fears of all we might lose, comforting us and guarding us with His presence. He has already lost everything for our sake, that He might guard and keep our hearts and souls with the God-given peace that surpasses understanding.
BOLDNESS THROUGH HIS PROMISE
This peace is ours as we know our access to the throne of Grace: we can and must come before the Lord in all of our weakness and fear, trusting that He has gone before us, that He goes with us, and that He will sustain us. In the book of Nehemiah, the work of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem is hard and filled with opposition. Yet Nehemiah knows that it is the work that God has called him to lead. And so, in his faithful leadership resting upon the grace of the Lord, Nehemiah invites the people to come to the Lord in prayer, and to be vigilant in the work (see Nehemiah 4:9 & context). Nehemiah reminds the people “Do not be afraid of them [their enemies]. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes” (Nehemiah 4:14). Nehemiah brings the fears before the Lord, reminds the people of the work to which God has called them, and they find their strength in Him and His presence. The Lord guards their hearts and their minds as they come before Him in their fear, and as they boldly face the work and opposition, knowing that He is with them.
As we come to God in the midst of the opposition, in the midst of the fears and anxieties of ministry - both personally, and in our contexts - God promises that His peace that surpasses understanding will guard our hearts and our minds. His work in and through us will prevail.
Martin Luther well understood this as he faced trial and imprisonment for faithfully following his convictions that he found through studying the Word of Truth. In his well-known hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God,” he writes:
“And though this world with devils filled
Should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear for God hath willed
His truth to triumph through us.”
His truth triumphs not as we cave to fear and pressure, or search for a path of less resistance, but as we bring our fears and anxieties before the Lord, praying for Him to continue to accomplish His purposes in and through us. As we seek Him, as we seek to serve HIS Kingdom, for HIS glory, and through HIS strength, as we bring the troubles and anxieties of our hearts and our communities before HIM, He gives us the greatest promise of peace that surpasses understanding - paz que sobrepasa todo entendimiento - a peace that will guard and protect our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. He offers a perfect peace that offers more hope and joy than any measure of worldly pleasure or success. So as we desire to serve our context in the midst of temor, ansiedad, and trials or luchas, let us constantly run to HIM with our cares and anxieties, and trust HIS peace to guard us, as He accomplishes His purposes. “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you,” (Isaiah 26:3).
¡A Dios sea la Gloria!
JOIN US IN PRAYER:
Please pray for the real fears surrounding the Hispanic-American community at this time; pray that the Lord would provide peace and grace in a time of turmoil.
Please pray for the leaders of Hispanic churches who are caring for flocks in fear. Pray that the Lord would sustain these leaders, and give them His wisdom.
Please pray for pastors and ministry leaders to faithfully preach, teach, and speak the Word of God within their contexts, casting all their anxieties on Him; pray that the Lord would indeed guard their hearts and minds from all bitterness and dismay, as He accomplishes His purposes in and through them.
Anna Portillo is the wife of HLI's Executive Director, José Portillo. Aside from being a wife and mother, Anna is a freelance author and editor in her spare time, with a number of published books and devotionals for adults and children. She also writes regularly for the Retratos blog, and serves in Women's ministries and in leading worship and Vive Charlotte Church.
Please consider giving to HLI, that the Lord may continue multiplying the resources for the training, encouragement, renewal, and multiplication of new leaders in and for the Hispanic-American context, and even beyond.
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