A moment of fear

“let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts…For the trust reposed in me I will return the courage and the devotion that befit the time. I can do no less.” Franklin D. Roosevelt, Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933

Fear is a powerful force that can stop us in our tracks. Whatever we are moving toward, may be completely avoided when we justify our fears and give them power.

Identifying our fears by naming them might be our first courageous act. What is the enemy that you are going to battle today? Is it loneliness, despair, guilt, abandonment? Spend a quiet moment asking God, “What is the source of my fear?”

Today, the source of my fear is the idea that I have not done what I should have done in the past and the future of others will be forever tainted by my failure. That statement is full of guilt. And there is nothing I can do to change the past. So, having named it, I have two choices, wallow in the past (punishing myself) or move toward a better future.

I spend a quiet moment with God and ask, “What have you entrusted to me today?”

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:18-19 (NRSV)

God has entrusted to me those whom I love, and though I may have failed them in the past God’s love for me is unending and I must have the courage to overcome my fears and extend that love to them today. “I can do no less.”

A moment of favoritism

As my teenage daughter attends a classmate’s Celebration of Life service today, I am reminded of why I am working through my issues with computers and technology to send a message of God’s love out into the world. I don’t have any idea where this will land, or if anyone will hear the message, but it is in my heart, and I don’t want to contain it.

My head is filled this morning with thoughts of teenagers and parenting and my own personal successes and failures. I have found the only way to stop the spinning is to focus on God’s love for all of us. A dear friend of mine always says, “I’m His favorite.” My response to that is, “Me too!” If I could say anything to the young man who is being wept for this very minute, it would be. “You are God’s favorite.” It doesn’t matter what we have done in the past when we look into God’s eyes, our successes and our failures are enfolded into His loving embrace, and we, in that moment, are His favorite.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love, he predestined us for adoption to be his children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding…Ephesians 1:1-8 (NIV)

God created us, understands us and loves us in every moment of our lives here and beyond.

Peace,

Alana