Refusing Fear Any Power Whatsoever

Wanting to get up out of bed,

And get to think, ‘Woe, my head!’

The size of life’s gotten awfully large,

Can life have gotten beyond my discharge?

As I lie in bed the more I think,

Life looks stark—at the brink,

A fresh resolve is my only hope,

In getting past this darkness with which I grope.

With a stoic resolve my spirit will shout,

In one straight act I shred my doubt,

Faith beyond fear is my only way,

If I’m going to make anything of this day.

Fear cannot hold me unless I submit,

But God’s given me a better remit,

The fear of One fulfils all my need,

And today my life shall steam at full Godspeed.

***

The daily resolution of Mahatma Gandhi inspires one thought: wisdom for living:

Let the first act of every morning be to make the following resolve for the day:

-    I shall not fear anyone on earth;

-    I shall fear only God;

-    I shall not bear ill toward anyone;

-    I shall not submit to injustice from anyone;

-    I shall conquer untruth by truth;

-    And in resisting untruth, I shall put up with all suffering.

When we understand that only one fear is appropriate or even logical, and we align with that fear, an awed respect of God, that which evokes wisdom, we have the key to our day.

Otherwise, many of our days are stunted and blunted before they begin. Likewise, some days begin well and then peter out in a festoon of fatigue. And because fear is psychological, once we have the concept in our heads it can prove tiresome to disband it.

But fear is a veneer. It always looks worse than it is, not to dispel many varieties of anxious despairing. But when we enquire of these fears one at a time they vanish upon exposure.

The challenge for today, and every day where fear takes its stranglehold, is to turn fear on its head through the logic of God’s faithfulness that has led us through. Every possible concern has an answer, and even where no answer is apparent, to patiently wait is no bad response.

When fears define us, despair is our only option. But when fear melts away in the presence of faith, hope becomes real.

Faith in our moments of fear helps us to overcome our fear-friendly imaginations.

© 2012 S. J. Wickham.