“Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.” S. Francis de Sales, Bishop and Prince of Geneva, Annency 1603
What would life look like if your whole world was upset? I don’t know what earth shattering events you are currently coping with or even what aftermath you may be cleaning up but of this I am certain: when your world is in pieces, fear rushes through the cracks.
Like black water through a cracked window pane. Like shadowy figures that dance doom. Like a master story teller who makes you believe every word is true. Fear is real and it transforms everything it touches. It reduces and corrodes, accuses and betrays. Fear is all darkness and has nothing to do with light.
Fear says that you cannot, that God will not and is not. Fear tells us we are on our own in a room of ever lengthening shadows. Abandoned to fate, to the whim of circumstances, subject to the will of others. That we are powerless and helpless.
If we look beyond our own lives, we can see just how much fear is stalking the planet. Since the year 2,000 we have lived through 9/11, bombs on London buses and trains, mass shootings in Mumbai, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, tsunamis in Thailand and Japan, the credit crisis, massive earthquakes in Iran, Turkey and Haiti, flooding and famine in Africa and Hurricane Katrina. And all that is just the tip of the iceberg, I’m sure you could add some. We are even fighting a war on what? A war on terror.
So can fear be defeated by the collective might of the military? Can terror be overcome, vanquished for good? What about the fear that seeps through the cracks in our lives, can we fight back, especially if we are subject to circumstances way beyond our control?
“Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened, but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm.” Robert Louis Stevenson
How to find calm in the eye of the storm. How to stop the seeping darkness. Jesus. Either He is or He isn’t able. Either He does or does not speak to peace to deadly waves. Is what God says the truth or is it all just make believe? Here is what God says:
God loves you, yesterday, today and forever. Jeremiah 31 v3
If God is for you, who can be against you? Romans 8 v31
God works everything (that is everything) together in your life for your ultimate good. Romans 8 v28
Jesus gave His life to save yours. John 15 v13
And He gave His life even though He knew all the ways you had failed. Romans 5 v8
Jesus brings freedom (not just a speck of freedom but complete freedom). Galatians 5 v1
Nothing (that means nothing) can separate us from the love of God. Romans 8 v3-39
What God says is true. Psalm 119 v105
God does not change like shifting shadows. James 1 v15
He knew you and he loved you. Even before you were born. Psalm 139
And He has not given you a spirit of fear, but of LOVE, of power and a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1 v7
How to stop the seeping darkness? Jesus. He is able to speak to peace to the deadliest waves. Tell Him your fears and let Him calm them today.
He believes in you.
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Thanks for the inspiration L and D.
Oh my friend, how did you know? Outstanding brandishment of the sword. X’s and O’s.
Great post, Claire! I wrote on fear this morning, as well! I think God is trying to tell His Body something…May we have ears to hear what He is saying.
I really needed this encouragement today. So many things seem to be crashing in even this day in my life…but these truths are my bulwark.
Thank you C!
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