Spirit Daily

In Dark Times Know That Banishing Fear Sets You Free To Fly Into Joy Of Eternity

By Michael H. Brown

Are you afraid? Are there things in your life that you fear? Are you afraid of war and terrorism or maybe the economy?

We all have our fears and we are all held back by them. Fear constrains us. It holds us hostage. It is a great device of the devil. Sit down, pray, and meditate on the fears in your lives -- and then meditate on the many ways that fear robs you of the joy of living!

When we fear we hesitate to take steps that would bring us greater happiness. Fear is faith in the negative. And just like faith in good things will bring good results, so will faith in a negative spur something negative. What we need to realize is that fear can draw the very result that we least want -- the very thing we are anxious about! It is like a magnet.

"And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life's span?" asked the Lord in Luke 12: 25.

"Definitely eliminate all anguish," said the Blessed Mother at Medjugorje. "Whoever abandons himself to God does not have room in his heart for anguish. Difficulties persist, but they will serve for the spiritual growth and will render glory to God."

We live at a difficult time. No one can question that. Yet in the scheme of eternity, with the proper perspective, we see that nothing on earth is really very awesome -- and we see all fear banished by the Blood of Jesus. I mean that literally: when we have Christ, nothing can touch us. Life on earth is but a passing moment in the blink of eternity. Whenever I read near-death accounts -- stories from those who have glimpsed the eternal -- there is the constant refrain that life is not to be spent fretting. There is nothing more useless. All of us go on from here, and what we have to concentrate on while we are here is what we can accomplish. We must spend our time in a positive way. This is also something they say: that when we die, we will see how some of the most "fearsome" things were but little trials. Even war. "I instantly changed from a pessimist to an optimist," notes one young man who "died" but was revived in March of 1988 (during a sporting accident). "There always seemed to be a brighter side to everything. I knew that everything happened for a reason. Sometimes, that reason may not have been clear at first, but in the end, it would all make sense."

Too often, we remain in the same place, stagnant and in the doldrums, unable to progress into joy, simply because we are fearful of making a bold move that would change the course of our lives for the better, that would free us.

Have you been hesitating to do something out of fear? Do you have talents you haven't pursued? Do you fear what is going on in the world?

Nothing is out of God's control. We need not look at even the most "fearful" things fearfully. As Franklin Roosevelt said, the only thing to fear is fear itself. "Christians make a mistake in considering the future because they think of wars and of evil," said Mary of Medjugorje. "Those who think only of wars, evils, punishment do not do well. If you think [only of them], you are on the road to meeting them."

What the Madonna was saying is that we need balance.

Naturally, we have to keep watch of the evils both in our own lives and in the world -- or those evils can ensnare us. Yes, we must recognize and report on evil. At Medjugorje the Blessed Mother herself warned of future punishments. At Fatima, she pronounced war. And Jesus offered stern prophecies in Matthew 24, including warnings of military conflict.

But He said not to fear them.

"You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars," said the Lord. "See that you are not frightened."

We must consider prophetic warnings and note the problems that may occur, at the same time that we keep our eyes on Heaven!

When we do that, we suddenly fly; like the young bird, we find a whole new world only when we try out our wings. When we cut ourselves free from worry, we fly into the joy of eternity!

The Lord is always watching, and knows exactly what you need. Just have faith in Him. Just have faith in the positive. "Do not be worried about your life," said Jesus in Matthew 6:25-26. "Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?"