Be not afraid / Where is your God?

Be Not Afraid / Where is God in your Life?

Words of encouragement for many who have reached a point of fear when all seems to be lost at every turn of life.  A student studies into the late hours for an exam that may be his only step into a promotion that will determine a move up in the corporate ladder at his employment.  Another person must make a final decision as to whether she will become the queen of the ball and be chosen for her future at modeling.  And still, the rampart that holds a person’s desire to make decisions of going to war in the turbulence of too many enemies at the doorstep of their nation. 

Regardless of the tempest that may confront anyone, the success at what is yours alone to determine a quest for one or thousands of people should not be something to put the dredges of failure right before your eyes.   Where is God in your life?   

From Proverbs we read; “The fear of man brings a snare, but he who trusts in the Lord is safe.”  (Prv 29: 25).  Is this the answer to finding the courage to go through with the goal that confronts us and yet in the back of our mind there is that small nuance that says; “Don’t reach for that which will certainly depose your idea of success.”  

Too many people are sometimes kept from succeeding in their chances because of a slight nudge  that will keep them from failing.  If the student that was studying through the night gave up, a  more successful opportunity will never arrive.  What about the model who probably would be the one major example designers are looking for to sell their product says, “Not me, let someone else with more talent take the position.”  And, in a world of unrest and facing threats of attacks by adversaries closing the doors of governing, a World War culminates in a country because he or she turns from fear and runs away to a disaster that could have been avoided.

Yet, here we are in the 21st century where people preparing for an advancement fail to continue their dream because of this term fear.  Failure is the premise too many depend on instead of our creator God.  That girl who was given the attributes to shine her abilities before the world of fashion and bring a positive approach to millions of young girls desiring the same goal will take her gifts to exceed the backstroke of success into a graveyard of quitters.  Where is God in your life?  

And, the nation that allows their defenses to slip into a sleepy scenario feeling safe from all enemies, falls to possible entrenchment by a foreign enemy.  The United States had this very element of surprise occur twice as a warning of how vulnerable we have become.  Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, catapulting us into WWII.  And who can forget September 11, 2001, when over 3,000 human beings were slaughtered and we still feel the effects of these attacks on New York at the World Trade center, the Pentagon in Washington, DC, and the farmland in Shanksville, PA and flight 93 heroes.  Even though hundreds of fearless men and women went to battle in many ways that day.  A man who was staying with a coworker who was in a wheelchair in one of the towers so he had someone who cared and went to his death so this man would not be alone.  And who can forget the more than 40 passengers who saved one of the seats of government in Washington DC when they rushed to the cockpit of flight 93 saving perhaps many more citizens in Washington and the seat of government.  They all had that desire to forbid any more destruction once they heard about the three other hijacked planes doing their evil intent on the United States.  

There was no more time to evaluate the circumstances facing them.  Fear became a non-consequence thought and they never knew how and what they became heroes.   These incidents show all of us that there are people who in spite of tragic outcomes, pushed fear behind them and stood strong in the face of evil that fell to the courage as some to forge ahead maybe saving one person, like the man who went to his death in the trade center building so one other man would not be alone as he faced his own death.  Be not afraid!  Where is God in your life?

Ralph B. Hathaway