Where there is loss or fear - there is hope!
When you
think of what you are afraid of, what comes to mind? For me, one of my greatest fears is the fear
of height. If driving up a mountain, I
certainly do not want to be on the right side of the vehicle and look over the
edge. However, there are other things
more relevant such as the fear of losing a job, financial loss, or the loss of
a loved one. How often as a child, none
of these even enter our minds as we think we are going to live happily ever
after. Unfortunately, life often does not
live happy ever after. Things happen and
we need to learn how to cope with the changes in our lives.
Often times,
the changes end up being a good thing.
My husband was in the military and our first move was to St. Louis,
Missouri. We were both ready for a
change and the change was good for us.
After spending three years there, it was time for us to relocate. At this point, I was apprehensive as our next
move would depend on where there were openings.
Our children by this time were in junior and senior high school and were
concerned we would end up living in the boonies so to speak (I don’t remember
where they thought the boonies were.).
Because of my husband’s job, we were able to wait a bit to see if there
was a position back in the Minneapolis, MN area. And there was. Fortunately we were able to move back in the
vicinity of where we lived prior to moving three years before. The plus was our kids were able to go back to
the schools which their friends were now at.
I share this
story as there were many feelings of fear of the unknown but also the hope we
had in Christ of know He would take care of us – and He did.
The one fear
I didn’t think I would have to face at a young age was the fear of losing my
husband. He was only 47 and I was 46. His
death had nothing to do with being in the military as he had a heart attack on
our patio. It was so sudden and such a
shock. With being in the military, we
had our wills up to date and we both knew that if something would happen to
either of us, we knew where our paper work was to handle such a situation.
Having your
paper work in order is a good thing but the fear of losing my spouse threw me
for a loop. There were so many questions! Dreams were shattered! How does one go from being a couple to being
on there own! It’s amazing how I thought
my life was in order and in the drop of a pin, it totally changed. What if I made the wrong decision regarding
things such as my job, house or what to do next? One of the scriptures that help carry me
through was: Psalms
46:5 - God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.
Regardless
if you have lost a spouse, job or financial ruin, one of the hardest things to
do is just put one foot in front of the other.
It’s the little steps we take each day.
There are days when it is difficult to just get out of bed let alone
decide what you will do for the day.
Often just taking the garbage out is a big deal.
Just a
couple of thoughts about fear:
- Try not to let the pain of fear make you a victim of fear.
- Try not to let fear stop you from moving forward with life
With God’s
help, we do have hope. For me, I have
had other things go on in my life that I saw God’s direction and knew it was He
who helped me get through my fears. One
of God’s promises is from Psalm 147:11 which reads: The Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his
unfailing love. When we live
by faith with hope in God and not be fear it’s amazing how things in our lives
work out.
Blessings to
each of you as you walk this journey. Remember
God is with you each step of the way – one step at a time!
