Trust God and be fearless

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

WHEN Christ told his disciples, “Therefore fear them not, for nothing is covered that shall not be revealed, nor hid, that shall not be known,” (Mt 10,26) he was practically reassuring them—and now, us—that our courage in the face of whatever fear we may have in this life should be rooted in God’s knowledge, his power and faithfulness to those who believe and confess him.

We should not let other people’s hostility control us. The lesson to draw is that even if others may misunderstand us, or slander and persecute us, God in the end will reveal what is true and bring everything into the open.

We should not worry too much about the misunderstanding and even hatred that others may have against us, because we have been given all the assurances that if we are with God, everything would just turn our right.

Evil does not have the last word, unless we let it. It is the good that will have the last word. And so, we just have to learn how to go through such things even to the extent of cooperating with evil materially, not formally, if only to change things for the better.

In this, we should look at Christ not only as the model but also and most especially as the power to enable us to derive good from evil regardless of all the dirt involved in the process.

What we are asked to fear is to fear offending God. Christ articulated this truth when he said, “Fear not them that kill the body, and not able to kill the soul. Rather, fear him that can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Mt 10,28)

We have to know when to be afraid and when not. We have to distinguish between a good fear and a bad fear, a healthy one and a sick one. We need to know how to handle and deal with our fears that are unavoidable in our life.

Fear is an emotion that we need to educate also. It just cannot be on its own, guided only by our spontaneous judgments and reactions, and appearing when it’s not supposed to, and not appearing when it’s supposed to. It has to be grounded and oriented properly, expressing the sublimity of our dignity as persons and children of God.

Let’s remember that among the gifts of the Holy Spirit is the fear of the Lord. It’s the good and healthy fear of a child who is afraid to offend his father. It’s a filial fear, not a servile one. It’s one that, instead of being tempted to run away from God, would rather motivate one to get closer to him. It’s the fear of losing God, even if we may have offended him and have to do something to atone and repair.

It’s the fear that we should foster, especially these days when we see a lot of people who are not afraid anymore to offend God. Though to be fair, we can also say that many do not fear God anymore because in the first place they don’t know him. No one fears what he doesn’t know.

In all our affairs and situations in life, we should always go to God to ask for his help and guidance, and to trust his ways and his providence, even if the outcome of our prayers and petitions appears unanswered, if not, contradicted.

This should be the attitude to have. It’s an attitude that can only indicate our unconditional faith and love for God who is always in control of things, and at the same time can also leave us in peace and joy even at the worst of the possibilities.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com