God accompanies us in times of fear
In a strange city, I had been told to attach myself to a native of the city to cross the road – with him, I’d be safe. Otherwise, I was scared stiff in a city crowded with traffic. The fear that time was overcome with the help of another person, of someone who could help me cross.
Many of our fears dissolve if we share them; they don’t exactly go away immediately, but they’re different. We can help each other because we’re all afraid at times, just as people had their fear (and still do) of COVID. In bereavement, we’re frightened of being lonely, being left alone. It’s the same in our older years. All of us have fears like these, and we can bring them into our relationship with God. Job in the Old Testament was like that. He even feared he was losing his God, but by being honest with God, he could live with his fear. Jesus was afraid in the Garden of Gethsemane, but later, with trust in his Father, he went to his death unafraid.
May God bless us with the joy of walking with him, accompanying us at times of fear, helping us to live our lives with trust and confidence. A saying of Jesus in the Gospel is ‘Be not afraid. I go before you always. Come, follow me.’ Our prayer can be: ‘Lord, help me believe that nothing can happen that you and I together cannot face and overcome.’
Excerpted from The Sacred Heart Messenger, July 2023