"Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord is my strength and my song, and He has also become my salvation. Therefore with joy you shall draw water from the wells of salvation. On that day you shall say: Praise the Lord, call upon His name; among the nations make known His deeds, proclaim how exalted is His name.
Sing to the Lord, for He has done glorious things. Let this be known in all the earth. Shout with exultation, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel!"
~~ Isaiah 12:2-6
Any time I hear the words, "Be not afraid" I think of our dear, departed Papa, John Paul II (or John Paul the Great, as I'm sure he will be known in years to come.) The first words of his pontificate were, "Be not afraid!" I return to these words so often: in times of trial, in times of anxiety, in times of uncertainty.
When I fret about our homeschool, or about my abilities as a teacher:
Be not afraid.
When I worry about not having another child, or about having one:
Be not afraid.
When I pay the bills and stew about money:
Be not afraid.
When I despair about the world:
Be not afraid.
Fear is not from God. He doesn't want me to waste my precious days, hours, or even minutes in worry and fear. And who am I to replace the good He has in store for me with worry of my own making?
And so, "I will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord is my strength and my song, and He has also become my salvation."
6 comments:
Thanks. I have been meditating on this recently. In so many dimensions right now, this is a most needed message.
Wonderful, lovely, perfect. I think about that all the time too. That was one of his greatest gift's to us. Thank you for this post!
Thank you, Ana and Jennifer!
Karen, I love you. Thank you for this.
Karen, This is lovely. Those words have helped me through the very same kinds of things.
Karen, I feel just the same - among the many gifts Pope JP2 gave us I think that reminder to "be not afraid" is perhaps the most important. It covers so much.
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