Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.
-Jesus
in Matthew 14:27
When
was the last time you were afraid? Do you believe that Christ walks with you in
the darkest valleys?
There have been times I have let fear get the
best of me. In high school, I could worry about some pretty mild things: Did I have enough friends? Could I run fast
enough? Was I getting the best grades? These can be interesting questions, but some
of these little things can consume us if we allow them to. If we aren’t careful
some of these mild fears can destroy us. Rational fear is one thing. This kind
of fear can push us into action. Irrational fear can leave us feeling sick, and
it can pull us away from the people we need to move toward.
In the Bible, we are told over and over again
not to be afraid. Jesus repeatedly warned
his followers not to let fear rule their hearts, but over and over again the disciples
succumbed to the powers of fear, anxiety, and desperation…
Over the last five years, my wife and I have
noticed that it has become much easier to build friendships in our
neighborhood. Now this is not because we
are trying harder. In fact when we first
arrived we would do everything we could to meet our neighbors, but everyone
seemed so busy. In general, there seems to be a fear of people we don’t
know. However, since we had our two
kids, we’ve somehow managed to meet everyone. The kids love meeting other
children and adults, and the neighbors seem to love meeting us – even as crazy
as we are… As far as time goes, we have actually been much busier, but we have found
more time for what really matters. It certainly doesn’t make sense to fear each
other. I am so grateful for the other
people in my neighborhood. I am thankful that my kids love getting to know the people
around them.
Today I hope you can all think about the fear
in your life. I hope you can take the
time to understand your fear. Perhaps you
need to use it rationally, but I hope you can also let go of the irrational and
move forward into this beautiful world God has created!
Blessings!
Pastor Brian
When my kids were young, especially teen agers, I had as much fun as they did .Now that I'm really considered as OLD by the younger set, I find that when I try to be friendly , especially with parents of little children, they shy away and are afraid I will hurt their kids .This is so sad , especially since I was on a 10 year job as a nanny when the virus closed down the schools and I had to give up 2 children that I had totally raised . Bruce Ewing helped me get this job and we clicked immediately. This was way back when he was with Phantom . The parents of these children were a stage manager and her husband was head Sound Engineer . So glad we have streaming at church and especiall now, that nice studio for all of you to work in ..Bless you all . Mary Gabriel....
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