Be Not Afraid

Very few people, if any at all, have found themselves unscathed as a result of the many newsworthy events that have occurred just in the past couple of years. These are uncertain times, and they are uncertain to an unmatched degree for a lot of us. If you really think about it, though, every generation and every person who has ever lived has had to deal with uncertain times to some extent. If it wasn’t a pandemic, it was a corrupt government. If it wasn’t a corrupt government, it was a war. If it wasn’t a war, it was a natural disaster. And those are just the big ones! We also have our jobs and our families and all of the endless day-to-day matters that are associated with those. Nothing is certain, and there are so many things to worry about… right? Well, that’s not what God tells us. In fact, God tells us to do the complete opposite and worry about nothing.

Worry about nothing? I don’t know about you, but since I have woken up for the day, I have probably worried about at least a dozen different things—and it’s only 10:30 in the morning! In such an individual-focused world, it is no easy feat to trust anyone aside from yourself. I know I have a hard enough time trusting the people closest to me, let alone God. Though it can be our reflex to trust no one, God is serious about His request of us as His followers to trust Him fully. In fact, He’s so serious that the bible tells us not to be afraid hundreds of times. While I do not know the exact amount, I have heard it said that there are 365 accounts of God telling us to “be not afraid”. If that is true, we are covered for every single day of the year.

In the busyness of everyday life, grouped with constant distractions and chaos from politics and the news, it seems as if there’s always something to kick us down as we are trying to trust God’s plan and divine intervention. God speaks to us in the quiet when we take the time to really listen and heed His voice. The next time you are spinning out in anxiety due to whatever stress you’re currently focused on, I urge you to take a deep breath, stop, and take a minute to look at the saints as proof that we will all be okay, no matter what suffering and uncertainty come our way.

Saint Padre Pio:

“Pray, hope, and don’t worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer.”

Saint Padre Pio suffered poverty and great illness as a child. He also carried the stigmata, which caused him a great deal of pain. Still, he kept his eyes on the Lord and trusted in His plan and gave himself fully to God.

Saint Faustina:

“I know very well what I am of myself, because for this purpose Jesus has opened the eyes of my soul; I am an abyss of misery, and hence I understand that whatever good there is in my soul consists solely of His holy grace. The knowledge of my own misery allows me, at the same time, to know the immensity of Your mercy.”

Saint Faustina suffered from tuberculosis for many years. She was also shown an intense vision of hell and tasked to spread the message of Divine Mercy to as many people as she could. The image of Divine Mercy includes the message “Jesus, I trust in you!”

Saint Joan of Arc:

”All battles are first won or lost in the mind.”

Saint Joan of Arc encountered many trials in her efforts to aid the war in France, from false accusations to imprisonment and even becoming wounded during battle. Still, she fought nobly and leaned on God in order to take on her mission with confidence. She believed that without faith, you have nothing.

Even if all your worst fears come to light, the saints are our proof that everything ends the way it should, and that God always wins. Wherever we go in our lives, God is there first. Trust in Him, and nothing can take away your inner peace.