Do you find yourself fearful, having a hard time to pray?

by Rita Davidson

 

 

Now just what is all that?  Well those are just some of the headlines I have seen in my own email inbox. I’m sure you’ve seen them too. If your online much at all, you come across them as much as you try to stay away from them.

 

Do you find yourself fearful, having a hard time to pray?
Do you feel as is all your prayers are for nothing and the world is falling faster than ever?

Do you wake up often with no hope, only dragging yourself through the day?

 

If any of this sounds like you then I think you’ve been bitten. Yes, bitten by the “newest bug” of the day. And guess what it is terminal too.

 

What is this “newest bug” you have not heard of?

Its call FEAR.

 

Yes, Fear. Sound familiar? Well, it seems that you’ve been bitten by that bug and it’s eating away at your soul taking away all the joy that should be there.

 

Where does this come from?

 Well for one thing, we are living in difficult times. With Church leaders backing down from their duties to defend the faithful and governments making unjust laws against Christians it seems as if all is lost.

 We hear talk everyday of ‘financial collapse”, “recession”, ‘radiation’ exposure’, the coming crisis, and more.

 We all know this society we live in is fragile. We know that our financial stability even our weather is fragile.  That is why as Catholics we thank God everyday for what we have. (Or we should be?)

 

Perspective

 

Lets get some perspective.  Around the world we have the Chinese government dragging women from their homes, from the streets and forcing them to abort babies as old as 9months pregnant. Have you ever heard of such a horror taking place today, as we sleep, eat and enjoy life? Well news and pictures are finally hitting the public, after much sacrifices by Chen Guangcheng.

 

We live pretty good with our food crops and cars, and air conditioning, and heated car seats, and drive thru’s and books and IPods and stoves and more. Yet we are the ones that are fearful everyday that ‘something is surely going to go wrong.” While our ‘brothers’ around the world are living in destitute, dirt floor homes, sorting garbage for a living.  Perhaps it’s because it all seems false even to us?

 

 

 

History of Christianity

 

Throughout the history of Christianity, Christians have been persecuted. Think of the early Church, the early martyrs. Look further in history and we see the Reformation and the killing of Catholics there. Looking further we see the French revolution and the thousands that were slaughtered as they overthrow the Church and the government. And more.

 

Scaremongering

 

Today we see scare mongering coming from the news stations. Recession is coming, then the unemployment is going up, you have a friend that loses their job, and so you believe this must be true.  I can’t say it’s organized, but ‘someone’ that runs all our news know that many people don’t ‘think’ when they watch the news and automatically believe it. It’s like the TV numbs our thinking.Then we also have the Catholic scaremongers. The ones that are always threatening with the End of the world, and the End times, and oh lets not forget the “Three Days of Darkness”.  (That’s a blog post for another day).

 

You know, I grew up in a large Catholic family. I had an aunt that was famous for this kind of scare mongering. She would always call my dad and ask him if he had all his canned goods saved up, as it was ‘coming soon.’ We became so afraid of this one aunt, we would hide in the closet when she would come and try not to ‘think’ because she might ‘read our mind’.

 

But I see similar tactics by some well meaning Catholic websites today. (Perhaps some are not well meaning, but I’ll try believing they are.) The Internet is rampant with people presenting themselves as Catholics, but before you know it, there is a spear of poison in what they are saying too.

Life is hard enough without having to find this kind of things from websites we are supposed to trust. Wise as serpents we must be.

 

Where to go from here?

 

Let me tell you a story. You remember the year 2000? You know the Y2K scare. Remember there was some bug that was going to shut down everything. That year 1999 was a tough year for us. I gave birth to one of our sons that year. Right in December. I spent much of that year sick as a dog (not knowing my gallbladder was acting up).

As the year came to a close and we had a new baby with us and Christmas joy, the scare of the Y2K possibility dragged us down. With no money to speak of at all, (as is our story), we could not store up all that was ‘recommended’ we should have. No canned foods, no beans, no water supply, and no dried goods. We lived in an 800square foot house with 5 children, no basement or even a closet. How could we store anything, let alone afford it? It was then that I asked God to protect us. I begged Him. It was then that I placed all my trust in Him to take care of us no matter what. I had to trust in Him, as I could not do anything for myself. It was not easy, but I forced myself to believe that it would be all right.

 

When I woke up January 1, 2000 – the world was still turning, I knew then that God does not wish for us to fear. He does not wish for us to remain fearful, store up goods, hunker down; stay low, and rotate our stores of food storage for that ‘fateful day’.

 

I learned then that it was ‘fear’ that allowed people to loose their charity. That fear, caused them to store up goods beyond their means sometimes. It caused them to worry unnecessarily and caused them to be unkind to people, to not fulfill their daily duty, as they should. This ‘fear’ caused them to neglect what they needed to do to save their souls.

 

And that is why I no longer allow myself to read, hear or see negative programs that only want to allow us to ‘fear’ the future.

News programs that tell us that ‘people are not spending we are in a recession’, yet a little research will show you the Growth National Product for the same time shows people are spending in hoards.

 

Lies come from you-know-who. And it is those lies that keep us bound up in fear. Then we read the same on Catholic websites and we find ourselves thinking negative about everything. Never hoping for a brighter day, just waiting for ‘the day’.

 

Frankly, anything that can keep us fearful and keep us from accomplishing our daily duty is not from God. All that is important is that you do what is required to save your soul, Today.

I do not know what God has planned for the End of the world, as I know surely it is coming. I do not know what God has planned to restore His church, as that surely has to come as well.

 

What I do know is that you and I may not live to see that time come. You and I may not live until the end of this year, this month, this day. Why all the fear for the future, when you and I may meet our end sooner than we think? We better be prepared for ‘that’ end.

 

Faith, where is God in all these scares we hear?
Where is thy faith? Why so weak ?

Why do we succumb to the fear mongering of the world?
 Where does this fear really come from?

 

Satan’ – the father of lies. He wishes to keep people in fear. He wishes to keep you and me in fear. If we can be broken, if we can be afraid, that is all that the devil wishes. For a population in fear is a population that can be controlled.

When we are fearful we become desperate. When we are fearful we lose hope. When we lose hope, we go through our days unhappy, not doing our best, not trying our best. And here is the key: When we lose hope we lose : our joy.

 

And joy is the one gift from God that no one can take away unless we give it away. Joy helps us get though our days even when we carry heavy crosses. Joy is what let the Saints go to their martyrdom singing.

Joy is what makes our heart sing, when our child takes its first step. And that joy makes our hearts joyful when we see a beautiful sunset.

 

 If you find yourself slugging through your day without joy, look again at your thoughts. Are you reading a lot of negative news channels that only give you the bad news of the day and the bad news to come? Are you reading Catholic websites that are always talking about dark times ahead? I say cut them all off. Stop reading, unsubscribe, disconnect. Do not allow these people to take away your joy, as well meaning as they may be.

 

Instead,

1. Take the day off from laundry (or whatever), and go spend time with your children. Get down on the floor with them and forget about your bills and your worries.

 

2. Pray sincerely offering up to God your worries and asking Him to help you to trust in Him more.

 

3. Then be sure everyday to fill your heart with joyful thoughts about the faith. Talk to God. So that your soul may be barricaded against the torrents of fear that seek to bring you and your family down.

 

 ©Copyright 2012  Rita Davidson All Rights Reserved.

 

Rita is a Catholic wife and mother of seven children. She reverted back to the faith when her oldest was making her First Communion. By then, she had completed degrees in Hairdressing and Make up artistry. She went on to receive a degree in Natural Health and another degree in Art. At age 26, Rita suffered a minor stroke. With no lasting effects, this dramatically changed her outlook on life. In 1996, Rita began ‘Little Flowers Family Apostolates’ to reach out to other families with her new found faith, by creating unique Catholic books and resources.. In 1999, she wrote the bestselling, ‘Immodesty; Satan’s Virtue’. She was editor of ‘The Catholic Health Letter’ for 7 years. She has been a homeschooling mom for 20+ years, and has written for various magazines. She is honored that families have trusted her with their questions, needs and concerns over the years. She continues to write and reach out to Catholic families with her husband, Mark and their 4 boys through http://www.LittleFlowersFamilyPress.com