Day 20: Fearless to love again - 28 November 2017
Benescke Janse van Rensburg
In total sorrow, the elderly man stood weeping next to the open grave. It was Ralie's funeral. The loss was clearly big to him. Yet, the rest of the mourners around the grave never knew that the two neighbours in the retirement village shared such deep connection.
After most of the people left the cemetery, the pastor walked up to Sarel. He was still weeping next to the grave. "Sarel," the minister began as he took Sarel’s arm. "I'm sure Ralie is now in a much better place and she greatly appreciated your love while she was still alive." This made Sarel cry even more.
When Sarel composed himself, he took a deep breath, turned to the pastor and said: "Pastor, for years I loved this woman. And there was one day. . . one day . . . that I almost found the courage to tell her about my love for her. But I didn’t. And now it is too late.”
After Sarel's divorce years before, he decided that out of fear of being hurt again, he would not open his heart to love ever again. There in the cemetery, next to Ralie's grave, he realized that his fear robbed him of a second chance of happiness.
Fear of the "what if" makes one passive – a fear of failure, a fear of rejection, a fear to trust, a fear tolove again, a fear to forgive or a fear to change jobs, make an important decision or start abusiness.
God however wants to set us free from this fear. In Psalm 34:4, the Psalmist wrote: “I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.” In Psalm 94:19 we read: “When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer."And in Matthew 14, we find the disciples terrified on the boat in the night with Jesus approaching them. Peter wanted to make sure that it was Jesus and asked if he could approach Jesus on the water. He got out of the boat and started to walk on the water. When he saw the strong wind and the waves, he became terrified and started to sink. In Matthew 14:31 we read: “Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. ‘You have so little faith,’ Jesus said. ‘Why did you doubt me?’”
Just as the "what if things do not work" makes us passive, the possibility of "what if things do work out" can give us renewed energy. What if we do experience a second chance of love and happiness? What if that difficult decision becomes the best one in your life? What if the change of career takes us to new heights? Or what if that business turns into an overnight success?
Let's trust God to deliver us from our fears while we keep our eyes in faith on Jesus. Nothing can be worse than standing next to the open grave, like Sarel, or coming to the end of our lives, realizing that we will never be able to seize that specificopportunity again. God bless.
Father God, thank you for second chances. Please help me to not live in fear, but dare to step out of the boat in faith, knowing that You are with me. I ask this in the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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