joy in not fearing, through following Jesus' invitation

Yesterday I blogged about learning not to fear, about wanting to turn away from being a fearful person. This morning I thought that I wanted to blog in the morning, as I have often done, but not so much lately. I thought "What do I have to say, this morning, before I have learned my lessons from the day?" Then I thought, " What I learn today, I can share tomorrow. Yesterday was different because I had been away, AND the lesson was so fresh." So then I thought, "How am I different this morning than I was last night?" And I realized my heart is so much more at peace. I have hope and trust that today I will move on and accomplish good things that will make a difference in my life and the lives of others. I realize that this is true today because it is true every day, available to all of us in Christ. He invites us to "Fear not". When we respond to His invitation, and begin to act on His words, then we taste and see that He is good. His word is true. I have already moved on, then, from where I was yesterday. The person who spoke to my heart maybe didn't see the fruit at the time, but it is coming now, and will continue to come. And again the human reality is satisfying as well. I didn't like the person I become when I get tense and fearful. And I find that I do like the person I become when I am full of faith, and peace and joy. Or at least when I feel okay. I may not be bouncing up and down, but I have a quiet confidence that makes me okay, and that means that I transmit that sense of peace to others, and maintain it for myself. Of course these are basic Christian truths. I have been trying to live them all my life, but my programming and patterning have conditioned me to catastrophize, to feed on trauma, etc. etc. Those are addictive patterns, and they generate compensatory patterns that are also addictive. I have been working hard to gain victory over those, and I don't mean it to sound as if either type of what I have mentioned in the last sentence were habits that were lurid or immoral or destructive in the way we usually view things. In fact likely only I and a few close people in my life know what I mean. They are destructive ways of viewing life, like the worry wart syndrome I have been exploring, that are not only a nuisance but rob me of so much joy. Yesterday was another watershed in the life of this worry wart. And I am so glad for it. We have to get really sick of our destructive inner ways in order to change them, and it is so wonderful that Jesus makes the way for us to do so. So, for this day, I take the way He has opened for me - to live with faith and not fear about every situation I face, big or small. May it be so for you.