The cost of
everything continues to rise. Along with
prices, there is a steady and rapid increase in violence, injustice, and stress,
and the natural response to all this is fear.
What would it be like to wake up and greet the day with bold confidence
rather than grim anxiety?
Our fearfulness may
be triggered by the conditions of our lives, but it stems from our
self-sufficiency. We are afraid that we
cannot handle all that is coming our way, and we are right. On our own, we can do nothing. This is why we must, as John did on the
island of Patmos, fall down at the feet of our Lord as though dead. Our faith teaches us that through death comes
life. It is only when we have died to
our own strength and resources that we can feel the comforting touch of Jesus
and hear those words we long to hear. “Do
not be afraid.”
God has given you
many abilities, but He never intended for you to use them apart from Him. When the fear of life creeps in, do not try
to be a hero and fight it back by yourself.
Lie down before Him, and He will raise you up with more hope and
strength than you could ever have managed by yourself.
O Father, You know
the things I am facing. I would rather
not look at them, but their images haunt me.
I surrender them along with myself to You. Whom am I kidding? I can handle none of this. Lead me through these restless waters. Walk with me along the way. In You alone I place my trust. Amen.
Copyright © 2013 by Steven R.
Perkins
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