Day 2 - Do Not Be Afraid

Do not be afraid of Life.

Do not be afraid of the darkness that comes trying to wrap you in its blanket of warmth. It wants to convince you that embracing this darkness and worrying and fretting will bring new life. But it will not. All it will do is to allow fear to come inside your home and set up a place there.

Don’t let fear through the front door of your heart and home. He is not a good person to have live with you. Each day he will point out to you all that is wrong and all the bad that might happen. He will begin with one fear that he knows you dread, and once that one fear is given house room, it will multiply to two and then four, then eight and then sixteen. What at first seemed harmless, just one little fear, will before you know it, have mushroomed into a cloud, a very dark cloud that will try and wrap itself around your mind.

Be very careful who you let through the door of your heart and home at this time. Allow a balance to come in. For every fear, counter it with a grateful thanks for something good and positive in your life. Begin to see all that you have taken for granted as the gifts and blessings that they truly are. Sometimes, it is only when something is removed from our life, that we begin to appreciate all we have and had. At those moments, take time to give thanks for all you have, even if some of the things you treasure are being removed for a time or a season.

Remember also that you live in a world governed by seasons. Each and every season has something of awe and wonder to offer mankind. Never despise the seasons of life. Autumn is a season of letting go of things that once brought us joy but now are ready to depart. Next comes winter when one grieves for those losses but when everything is being prepared for the spring to come. Never be afraid of the seasons. Look for the gifts that they bring and don’t focus on their losses.

At this time, when life is changing beyond all recognition, recognise that the one who created this earth cares about it desperately. He holds her in the palm of his hands. He rejoices over her in good times and is close and full of compassion through her struggles. He never abandons anything he has created. He is the master gardener and can only bring life and new from old, even in the darkest of places.

So, my hope and request to you today is do not be afraid. Do not allow fear within your home. Recognise the truth of the seasons and the inevitability that after autumn and winter there will be a new spring. Finally trust the one who loved you into being in your mother’s womb. You are his child, even if you have never recognised this truth or believe in him. He is a faithful Father who will never leave you or forsake you and walks by your side through difficult and demanding times. He can be trusted to eventually bring forth something good from these dark times.

How often do you open the door to Fear and let him in? What are the fears and worries that visit you the most?

Make a long list of all the things in life which you are grateful for but may take for granted? Try to make the list at least 100 lines long.

What season best captures how you are feeling at the moment? What are the losses in this season and what are the gains?

Think of one good thing that God brought forth out of a dark or difficult time.