Don't Be Afraid

The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.

The beginning of today's Psalm is particularly beautiful.

God is our refuge and our strength,
an ever-present help in distress.
Thus we do not fear, though earth be shaken
and mountains quake to the depths of the sea

I am no stranger to fear. At times, it has all but consumed me. Anxiety runs in my family. In many ways I believe it is passed on, both through genetics and by example. So I find myself on a constant quest for words of relief. Scripture, like this Psalm, certainly provide both direction and comfort. I like to write these passages on sticky notes and post them all around my workspace.

The insight of other's who have struggled is also particularly helpful. That's one reason you will find so many references to Henri Nouwen throughout this blog. In his life, he openly professed his own battles with mind and heart. There's peace in knowing you are not alone.

We're all headed in the same direction, but sometimes it feels like we walk alone. Experience has shown me that in times of deepest struggle, the best thing one can do is turn your head and look for the fellow traveller who is walking nearby. Together there comes a clarity. In that clarity is God, who was with us all along.

Why do we need to be told "Don't be afraid" so often? I believe that God realizes how many things there are that frighten us, but He does not want us to live lives dominated by fear. Fearful people cannot be happy. Fearful people cannot be generous, charitable, or forgiving. Fear constricts the soul and keeps us from being as fully human as God would like us to be. In the Bible, virtually the first words spoken by a human being to God are an expression of fear. Responding to God's question, "Where are you?" Adam says, "I heard Your voice in the garden and I was afraid." (Genesis 3:10) 

God spoke to the generation of Moses, the generation that left Egypt, and gave them the Ten Commandments, forbidding murder, theft, and adultery, enjoining them to respect the truth and honor their parents. But God also spoke to the generations before them and after them and gave them, and us, an Eleventh Commandment: Don't be afraid.
~ Conquering Fear by Rabbi Harold Kushner

The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.