“You need not be afraid of where you’re going when you know God is going with you.”
~ Unknown
Heights. When I was young, I was afraid of heights. I mean any kind of heights. I am not exaggerating when I say that, at an early age, I could not step on a step-stool without going into near hysterics. Heights of any kind frightened me.
Dark. When I was young, I was extremely frightened of the dark. I had to have a nightlight in my room until I was much older. I could not sleep in the dark. My mind would turn every noise into a creature waiting to get me.
Storms. Again, at an early age, thunderstorms made me afraid. When a storm came in, I would run to my mother for comfort and consolation. She would often have to hold on very tight to “protect” me from the terror of the storm.
We all have some deeply elemental fears. Most often, we had them when we were younger. If we were part of the lucky ones, we outgrew our fears. We found ways to endure them or we realized that they held no danger to us.
I learned that, with caution, being up high would not harm me. As long as my brothers were not hiding in the dark, I knew that nothing was waiting to “get me” in a darkened room. I knew that, if I was inside, the storms were nothing to fear.
We often develop spiritual fears as well. We fear hell, we fear an angry or vengeful God, we fear an unforgiving God, we fear death. Some people never learn to manage their fears. For them, life is a time of fright with little chance of comfort or hope.
God does not want us to live in fear. His angels delivered that message a number of times when they appeared to different individuals: Fear not! Saints have delivered that same message in numerous apparitions.
God sent His Son to deliver us from our fear. His Son died for us to deliver us from the fear of suffering and death. Our future is one of happiness, light, and peace. Let us try to live, not as a people of fear, but as a people of hope this day.
FAITH ACTION: Pray for those who are so crippled with fear that they cannot live their lives as God desires.