“When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you (Psalm 56:3).
Is fear causing you to hide from somebody today? Your boss? Your husband or wife? Your strong-willed child? Your grouchy co-worker?
When God asked Adam, “Where are you? He said, ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself'” (Genesis 3:9-10).
And we have all been hiding from things ever since. We hide behind forced smiles, agreeable words we don’t mean, and social rituals we detest. Or worse, we hide behind things we do believe but don’t express because we are afraid of what people might think or say. We try to avoid the pain of confronting someone, and the emotional energy we are afraid we will have to invest in cleaning up afterwards. Short-term it may be easier to act as if things don’t bother you, or pretend to agree when in reality you disagree. But long-term it doesn’t work, because peace isn’t the absence of discord. When we remain silent in order to avoid confrontation, we just end up avoiding something far more important, relationships.
For example, when we don’t speak up on the job because we fear making waves, we end up resentful, alienated from our fellow workers, and maybe losing an opportunity to make things better. When we are afraid to confront our marriage partner (and this should be done in love, not anger), we end up ridiculed, we lose the opportunity to bring hope to someone who really needs it. So rise up and say, “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You.” Confront your fears, come out of hiding and start living. (St. Mark church Facebook)