Monday, October 30, 2017

Do not fear or be dismayed!         
                                           Joshua 8:1
         A friend of mine has received terrible news about her medical problem.  I want to tell her “do not fear or be dismayed,” but it feels as though I’d be saying those words into a raging hurricane.  The winds would whip them away as soon as I said them.  When bad news comes, or our lives fall apart in some way, it does, indeed, feel as if a storm surrounds us, and all the advice to ‘not worry’ is too flimsy to stand up to those squalls.  What I can tell my friend is that fear is natural.  
            It’s a healthy reaction to soul-shattering news.  But once fear has told us ‘this is serious,’ we have a choice.  We can focus on and embrace the fear, which is a way focusing on the negative and of sapping the strength we’ll need for the days ahead, or we can decide to not fear or be dismayed; to cast our lot with the God of hope and healing, of mornings and miracles.  I hope my friend chooses to not fear or be dismayed.

©Carol Dean Henn, 2017