Chose Faith Over Fear - Frederic Widmer
“Because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Platform of Hope submission: Frederic Widmer
As I write this, we are moving into the 4th week of quarantine with the earliest date of non-essential businesses re-opening being the 20th of May. It is more or less a month more that we are being told to “Stay home, stay safe.” The state of Connecticut has made cloth masks mandatory for being outside and people are protesting, by being outside.
Safe to say, these are times the likes of which we have never collectively experienced before. The confinement we are in gives us time to stew and toil in uncertainty and doubt. But as with all other unknown times we have been in before, we all are given the choice to either choose fear or choose faith. We either could fear these circumstances, or have faith that although these times are bad, they will get better.
Let me share some of my testimony with you and tell you why I know that this is true. I spent 2 months in corrections, my time spent at a place called Manson Youth Institution. Being the only 21 and under facility in Connecticut, it is a pretty rough place and is a high-security facility. I had never been in trouble, so I had never been in a place like that before my experience, and I had a choice to make walking into those doors. I was walking into what to me felt like crisis, and the choice I had to make choice was fear or faith.
I chose faith, spending every waking moment in prayer and in praise. I would even pray mentally, repeating “Thank you Lord for your kindness, mercy, strength, protection, and for your favor.” I learned to praise him as my prayer, as praise meant those had already manifested.
I still repeat this praise-prayer in my head to this day, and I pass it on to you all as we move forward in this crisis together.
Also, I have a verse from Luke 1:78-79,
“Because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Even in the dark times, even when death may be near, God’s mercy brings us light and guides our feet on the path to peace. God Bless and bring peace to you all, and God Bless our Essential employees.