“I sought the Lord and he answered me,and delivered me from all my fears.
Look to him, and be radiant;so your faces shall never be ashamed.
Psalms 34:4-5
I often fight with fear … fear of so many things that I should just be trusting in God to provide. In Luke, Jesus tells us not to be anxious. For instance, when talking about what we shall wear, Jesus says, “Consider the lilies, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.” And he also tells us “And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be of anxious mind.” (Luke 12:27,29). So why, why do we still fear? Some of it is in our nature as human beings, not always being sure of something. But when we behave as a child of God, we need to give up these petty fears and trust in our Father. Everyone knows a father will take care of his child. I am ashamed when I do not trust that my heavenly father is looking out for me and will take care of me.
The best example I have is from after I had a six-hour lumbar spine fusion. It was a major surgery and I went home after a day in the hospital in a lot of pain. My sister stayed with me for a day and then she flew home. I was so frightened as I did not feel well enough to cook or even do dishes and laundry or take care of my dog and I was all alone. I remember throwing myself on my bed face down (it was excruciating to sit down) with my rosary and begging God and the Blessed Mother to take away some of the pain so I could function. The pain pills were not enough to quell the pain.
The next thing I remember is a teacher friend of mine, Renee, (I volunteered at the elementary school where she taught), showing up at my door and filling my refrigerator with Power Plate meals that many of the teachers purchased for me. All you had to do was warm them up and they were ready to eat. They also had a lot of protein in them.
What a life raft from heaven that was! Some teachers who went in on this gift weren’t even ones I worked with. God certainly was at work behind this.
My neighbors pitched in and even took my dog, Charlie, out for me. I was walking with a walker and between that and the pain it was impossible for me to walk Charlie.
I needed to look to God and be radiant as this proved to me how caring my heavenly father is. I never should have doubted that he would take care of me.
