Fear can paralyze. Our imagination of the worst case scenario can stir emotions in us that make us retreat instead of bravely marching forward. But let us be assured -- God is always ahead of us.
"It is the Lord who marches before you; he will be with you and will never fail you or forsake you. So do not be dismayed (Deut 31:8)."
A missionary priest shared to us, "When you go to a mission area, do not presume that you are 'bringing' Christ to the place. Christ is already there, waiting to use you. Christ is already with the people you will serve. You will meet Christ there." True enough, in the missions that I do, I am always amazed of how the Lord talks to me through the people I serve. The Lord surprises me of the unforeseen opportunities that he opens up for the mission -- especially at times when oppressions happen. The Lord's promise of not forsaking us should make us the bravest person of all.
The only thing that blocks us from moving forward is that we are pampering our fear instead of conquering it with faith. We feed it, entertain it, and nurture it -- and so it grows until it eats us up.
Let us not make fear our best friend -- Christ is. Peter was walking on water when Christ called him. But whenPeter feared the strong winds, he started to sink. We should trust more the One who commands the strong winds to stop; He who lifts us up when we start to sink.
Many of us fear this one thing -- the future. Fears that affect our future: fear of not having enough, the fear of loss, the fear of not being good enough, the fear of not meeting high expectations. Fr. Joel Jason in one of his homilies said, "When you plan for your future, make a faith declaration not a fear declaration." We must work hard not out of fear but out of faith. Fear can make us greedy, while faith can make us generous -- and when we share, the Lord blesses us a hundred fold. Just ask those who tithe.
Faith is a response to the reality of God in our lives. When Jesus revealed the true nature of God as our Father, He was not only talking about any other father but the reality of a perfect Father! A Father who knows the number of hair on our heads, who knows us more than we can ever know ourselves, who looks at us lovingly and assures us, "I will never fail you or forsake you."
So let us put our faith forward and march on. Be brave, God marches before us!
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