Look for Light in Every Dark Corner of Life

“Fear is useless. What is needed is trust in God.”

Gospel of Luke, Chapter 8

We needlessly allow ourselves to be crippled by fear—far too often. And when we allow ourselves to be controlled by fear, we take the beauty out of life. For Example, we’re experiencing a glorious sun-filled morning as we head to the doctor’s office for a check-up. We feel great, but during our evaluation we are told that we may have a serious health problem. Immediately fear strikes like lightning out of that perfectly clear-blue sky we’d been enjoying earlier.

Suddenly, we don’t feel great anymore, and the sky is no longer bright blue. Storm clouds are moving in wearing the face of fear. All we have to do is hear the word “cancer” and we’re off to the races on a losing track. “Oh, no! What stage?” “How long do I have?” “What about my spouse and kids? How will they manage?” “Why me?” Fear snowballs into worry and worry intensifies the fear. It becomes a horrific circle that we alone perpetrate and perpetuate on ourselves.

Surely, there must be some good that comes from all of this fear and worry. After all, we engage in it constantly. There must be a good purpose to it, right? Well, I can’t think of a single one. Jesus was right: fear is useless. What’s needed is trust in God. What’s needed is faith.

Faith and fear are opposites, just as love and fear are opposites. Saint John says in his first letter that where there is love there can be no fear for love drives out fear. Faith in God also drives out fear. So we need to let go of any fear we may have. God is always with us and on our side. The Holy Spirit is within each of us to bring healing to all areas of our being: mental, emotional, physical and spiritual. It takes faith for us to understand this and to let go and allow God’s healing energy to flow through us.

Fear has no power in and of itself. Fear has only the power that we give it. Think about it. Fear only exists within our minds. It’s a reality we create in our heads that then spreads throughout our being when we give into worry. Fear, when indulged through worry, poisons the mind, body and soul. So we need to let go of all fear and replace it with faith, which is of God.

When we are racing through our worries we need to ask ourselves “How did we get this far in life?” “Did we work out all of our past problems by ourselves?” No, we didn’t. God did it for us, even when we weren’t aware of His presence. And God will also get us past any problems we may be facing today if we allow Him to do so by letting go of fear and allowing Faith to grow from within us.

Embracing faith doesn’t mean the problem will magically disappear over night. Things may get worse before they get better. That’s part of the natural flow of life, so we need to keep an eye to the bigger picture. God will take care of everything if we stay away from interfering with His efforts. One way we most interfere is by asking worthless pity-pot questions like “Why me?” There’s no good answer to this question and it doesn’t change anything. Instead, ask “What can I learn from this?” and look for the Light in the darkness. It’s there waiting for us to discover it. Find the Light and make a positive difference for everyone around you.

So let go of all fear. It’s completely useless. Embrace faith and allow your soul to shine!