1 John 4:18

Good evening!

              Tonight my grandma is watching a movie, and one line happened to stick out to me.  The heroine is told that her problem is that she's, "ashamed to be alone."  Hasn't that happened to us all?  A lot? 

            Stick with me as I switch gears for a moment - Immanuel means God with us.  His name is a reminder of a promise.  "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord," (Romans 8:28-29).  But there is one thing that we can wedge between us and Christ Jesus' love: fear.  We're afraid by ourselves.  I'm afraid to be seen as weak, vulnerable or sad alone.  But our Lord knows that: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go," (Joshua 1:9).   We're given a command!  Snap into marching order!

... Isn't that easy, is it?  Our souls need to be transformed, by praise, prayer and petition.  This still leaves out the most important ingredient.   "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love," (1 John 4:18).  Love can fix our fear of being alone, because love means we are not alone.  Christ came to us two thousand years ago in His incarnation and resurrection, we came to Him in our baptism, and He comes to us today in Holy Communion.  We forget God's promise to be with us and love us so often, so I hope you're reminded of the strength of His care for you tonight.

-Sarah