FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN (Thursday, June 14)

“When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel, before the Son of man comes. A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master; it is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household. So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, utter in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim upon the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s will. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Mt 10: 23-31)

Fear is a God-given gift, the purpose of which is to steer us away from the bad, and toward the good. The “bad” is everything outside the will of our Father, Who knows absolutely everything about our lives (in the past, present, and future), and about us, including the number of hairs on our heads. But we tend to misplace our God-given gift of fear, by fearing “the unknown” (e.g., our financial, professional, and personal state of affairs in the future), and the “not entirely known” or “confusing” other things beyond our control (like human opinion of, and behaviour towards, us).

But our Lord reminds us that there is no such thing as “the unknown,” because all these things are, indeed, ”known” to Him, Who is keeping track of them, even unto every last hair on our little heads, precious to Him. “Fear not, therefore,” I hear my Lord say to me today, even while I “do not know” or sufficiently “understand” everything and everyone in my life. Let me move forward, doing the next right thing according to my God-given responsibilities or vocation, and letting the fear of God liberate me from the crippling, merely-human “fear of the unknown.” Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, O Lord, with all of us today, in Your all-knowing Presence.
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