Fear Not...

Fear not the plans of the enemy...fear not the plans of those who would see you fall, see you fail...they are but whispers on the wind, flying this way and that, will-o-wisps following where the breeze blows...

Fear not dear treasures...the plans God has will come to pass...no matter the fear we feel; the anxiety that pulses against the temples, raises the heart rate with trepidation.

It is but chaff in the wind...

"Let those be ashamed and dishonored who seek my life;

Let those be turned back and humiliated who devise evil against me.

Let them be like chaff before the wind,

With the angel of the Lord driving them on.

Let their way be dark and slippery,

With the angel of the Lord pursuing them." Psalm 35:4-6

So much of what we fear in the midst of chaos and torment has been left behind...the blinders fall away, the lies turn to truth seeking missiles, the pain and sorrow reveal the heart of evil intent of the one we leave behind...what lays ahead is nothing to what you have endured dear hearts, nothing.

There was a day on the job I was required to go way, way, way up in a man-lift to the top of a sky-high building at Canfor Radium Hotsprings...90 feet up, hooked on to something that if it falls, you get a free carnival ride to the ground, colour me silly but I was choked up with fear...with care, with affection and understanding of my fear of heights, my favourite dude on the crew took me slowly to the top, explaining every move and parking the edge as closely to the walkway at the top as possible to make the climb across easier. Yeah...

As I donned my gear, readying myself for the journey up, up, up, my heart tripping in my chest the thought that came so crystal clear to my fear-addled brain was this...after what I have been through, this is nothing, NOTHING....

This dear hearts is the truth for so many things, so many events and happenstances standing in our path blocking the way, or perhaps diverting us in a new and scary direction...they are nothing compared to what you have endured, to the bone deep fear you have felt.

We feel weak in the moment...weakened by fear of the unknown and known...

The truth is, we have strength hidden in the recesses, in the crooks and crannies, in pockets of sunshine and light waiting to be released, used...

I do not fear death any longer...I have seen the face of darkness in the man I loved and walked a path fraught with danger...what else is there to fear my friends?

I have seen the cowardice of the man I loved...I have seen HIS fears, his weaknesses...I have seen a pitiful, empty vessel of a man with shows of strength to hide the feebleness, the frailty hiding in the recesses, in the crooks and crannies, in pockets of blackest night...

They LIVE in fear and disguise it as anger, as hatred, as evil....

“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” Isaiah 41:10

It is with grace I face each day...with gratitude and a heart of thankfulness as deep as the oceans, as high as the tallest mountain stretching to the skies...to be free...to know peace, to embrace change, enclasp faith, hope and love in all I do...

We have been given a gift...life dear hearts, life. This is our gift with all the messiness, the craziness it can bring...good and bad, positive and negative, heartbreak and joy unspeakable.

Let us take it all in...all the joy, all the love, all the acceptance and grace we are given...it holds us against that cold, dark night...it preserves us in seasons of grief and sorrow...

Every day a gift...each breath a bestowed treasure...lost ones know this...they know the breadth and width of life and death intimately, as close as a brother, a sister....

It is why for a time in freedom we experience such highs, such lows...there is no in-between, no neutral ground to walk days without fear...we feel everything so deeply, so terribly, so wonderfully...

So...fear not my friends...life lived in freedom is a life well lived...a life to explore all there is to offer...peace that defies description floods the soul bringing tears of joy, of thankfulness...

Like a warm blanket on a chill day...it envelops, it provides a sense of rightness without surcease...

Yes...there are many days, many many days we feel a wrongness with the world we have stepped into again...isolation and control has steeped the victim in a bubble of pain but most importantly, fear. Fear of the outer world despite having lived it for so many years, and well. Fear of our place in an alien land...until...until we begin to see the brightness of the dawn, until we put everything back in its proper place and slough off the weight of lies and deceit that whisper bitter nothings in our ear.

And the peace descends...blanketing out all that would hinder...

There is life after death dear lost ones...a death of something you truly and wholeheartedly believed in...the death of the light of love you wanted, needed, believed in...

I believed...in that person...I adored, admired, wanted...until the blackness set in at the edges, leaching into the whole, across the canvas with shades of grey and black, blotting out the love, the light...

Now...well now the admiration, the adoration is given to those who have earned it, who have shown their trustworthiness...

Now...well now I stand back and observe...speech, body language, hand gestures, tone, and the window to the soul that never lies...the eyes.

I give loving kindness and grace to those who have found their way in to my inner circle...

With the light of love we walk this earth....

Don't let anyone put that out dear treasures, do not let anyone extinguish your beauty, hide your love and worthiness...

Walk it out dear hearts, dearest lost ones....there is life abundant waiting your steps up and out of that dark, dank, stinky pit they have thrown you in to.

Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

Isaiah 43:19 (ESV)

He will make a way....