God’s love

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” 1 John 4:18

“This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.” 1 John 4:10-16

So, then, why do we fear?

In 2 Timothy 1:7, it states, “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” We have been given control over our thoughts and fears.

But Satan is the one who invites us into fear. For example, In Genesis 3 it talks about how the serpent (Satan), deceives Eve into eating the fruit off the tree of good and evil. As soon as she and her husband Adam ate the fruit, they saw that they were naked. They quickly began to sew fig leaves together because of the shame of being naked. And when they heard God walking in the garden, they hid (Genesis 3:10).

How many times does Satan convince you to fear in your life? We fear because we forget that God made us with His love. His loves drives, pushes, and casts away all of our tormenting thoughts and fears. Jesus felt all of the fears we deal with now.

I think, our greatest fear by far is that of death. I know it is for me. I find myself fearing that moment. Satan whispers, “what if all you’ve believed is a lie?”, “you will be judged by God for your sin”, “what about those left behind?”, and a thousand more fears. That’s all he has, lies. He is “the father of lies.” John 8:44

Most have us have lost someone especially close to us. A loss that breaks our heart as well as one that changes the trajectory of our lives.

For me, it was the loss of my dad. I wonder often how things would be different in my life if he had been with me to give me advise through the years. He is still the greatest man I’ve ever know, beside Jesus Himself. But, as I sit here praying over this reflection, I think of all the others I’ve lost. I was broken hearted at the time and still feel the pain as I reflect. But, I also see how each loss strengthened my faith.

As Catholics, we are blessed in mighty ways by the faith we hold to. For one, we know there is glorified life after. Maybe more blessed is that we know the saints in Heaven are connected with us. I know beyond doubt that my father, aunts, uncles, cousin and grandparents are praying for me. I know that the pain I feel of there loss is born of my selfish desires to have them with me. But, through faith, I know they are closer to me now then they ever could be on earth.

Jesus calls us to trust in Him. To simply hold to and grow that faith He has given us. Those most difficult times of loss grow are faith and trust most. It is in these times when our faith is tested most that we rely upon Jesus most and grow to most.

For those who lost someone dear, hold on to them. Stand on the beach, watching a seagull fly toward you from overland. As the bird comes closer, it becomes clearer. You can see it’s wings and color differences. It passes overhead and out to sea. As it moves away, it goes smaller in size until you can no longer see it. Does this mean the bird suddenly appeared on the horizon and got bigger as it closed? Or, that as it flew off, it vanished? No. We know the truth of this event. The form of the bird didn’t change. It didn’t suddenly appear, grow big and more distinct the suddenly no exist because it left our sight.

This is the same for those we’ve lost. A soul doesn’t suddenly flash into life and grow clear because it is near us. Nor, does that soul vanish because it passes from life. As the soul passes to the sunlight, it still exists. It’s ok to feel sorrow, that is just our homesick soul crying out with Holy envy to our loved ones.

Know with rock solid faith that they are now closer than ever. All their love carried forward with them into Heaven and now can be poured more purely upon us.

Yes, the trajectory of my life changed with the loss of my hero, my dad. It changed in a rocket trajectory upward to God. I now have an advocate in Heaven who loves me more than anyone else. I was knocked to my knees with his death but then, lifted to Heaven’s gates as his love poured out.

Even Jesus felt that fear, and He turned it over to trust.

“Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Matthew 26:36:39