God is in control of everything. I repeat: God is in control of everything. Yes, this includes your greatest fear. Let’s get quiet for a moment. Search the stillness. Can you sense God’s presence? Close your eyes and linger in the safe space of the everlasting arms of The Father.

Breathe…

Allow your body to soften and your mind to rest. From this place, the priority is to experience gratitude. Notice for a moment your greatest blessing this morning. Give thanks for it. Continue to ponder as you allow a flood of goodness to wash over you and to reveal several more blessings you have experienced in the last 24 hours alone.

Yes, these are trying times. Yes, the world is in confusion. However, you don’t have to be. Retreat to this protective space any time you need to dial it down a notch. Now take a realistic look at where fear has been present in your day. Not just in your mind, but in your actions or lack of, in your speech, in your emotions, and in every facet of your being. Are you carrying fear in your body in the form of tension? Headaches? Muscle aches? Malaise?

Breathe…

Now, let everything fall away except the most important fear that is consuming you right now. Bring this fear to the light of Christ and share your concerns with the one who saved you. Ask yourself exactly what is so terrifying about this fear? Go deeper. Is there something underlying this fear? Notice. Bring it to the light. What else about this fear is troubling you? Clearly, this is an indication that whatever the object of your fear is, it is truly important to you and you want to protect it. As you go deeper into these feelings of unease, have you hit upon the one aspect of this fear that panics you? Articulate this very deep and troubling concern. Up to now you have likely buried and festered in this fear. Bring it now to God and pray openly about it. If you don’t know how or what to say, start by asking God if the feelings you are experiencing because of this fear are even realistic. Allow God to dialogue with you about the generalized anxiety you are internalizing around this fear. Are you able to process a little more objectively and see that rationally, there is no chance that this fear will come to fruition? If you conclude that this is the reality, now is your opportunity to ask God for the grace that you desire. Please God, grant me the grace to trust in you. Your mercy knows no bounds. You care for my well being more than I could ever imagine. You are in control of all things, including what is for the best possible good of my soul. Jesus, I trust in you. Please do not allow me to place my fears at the center of my thoughts and actions. Help me to realize that YOU alone belong at the center of my thoughts and actions. You desire my flourishing. Help me to release this fear into your loving care. Build my trust and increase my stress tolerance. Help me to see where I am trying to exert control and lead me by the hand so I can relinquish it. Help me to know that the answer lies in self -abandonment to your Divine Providence and mercy. I need to forget myself and trust in YOU. Help me to bury every preoccupation with myself in the heart of Christ so you can perform miracles in proportion to my full surrender.

On the other hand, perhaps the fear you are experiencing is a pressing reality. What then? Perhaps you have just lost your job because your industry is one of the ones the government is shutting down temporarily due to the spread of Covid-19. What then? The first truth in this situation is that God is in control. Whatever he allows to pass through the hands of his will are like grains of sand passing through because they are for the best possible good of your soul or for those souls entrusted to you. What do I mean by this? Consider that all things are working for the good of those who love him. What then, is this experience here to teach me? Detachment? Trust? Divine Providence? Humility? The key is to surrender fully to the circumstances that God has allowed you to remain in for the time being. Ask God: “ What will YOU and I do now, God?” You are not alone in this. God will not leave your side. Watch how He carries you through to the other side. Decidedly not how you imagined it. However, I promise you will be better for it. There is merit in suffering. We are closest to the heart of Christ when we suffer. if we can arrive at this place of humble submission, God will do the work and the necessary pruning to restore us. The key is to surrender and to abide in the peace Christ asks of us, 366 times in the bible. To do anything other than have peace keeps us enslaved to the very things Christ conquered by his death.

As human beings, we create so much of our own suffering by our attachments. Allow yourself to trust in God, to surrender to your current circumstances and to believe that God will accompany you through every trial. He is always working for your good. Be childlike and free in your trust! if you need help with this, The Surrender Novena is a beautiful prayer for instilling a sense of calm. If you need additional holistic ways to support your sense of calm and well-being, my favorite oils for spiritual and emotional health are Frankincense, Rose, Magnolia, Lavender, Citrus Bliss, Serenity, Balance , In Tune and Adaptiv. In the end, only God can provide the consolation you need. Can you find 10 minutes today to surrender yourself to this love? Be assured of my prayers, friend.