Fear

Today is a cold day in New York, bitterly cold.  It reminds me of the days I spent two hundred kilometers north of the Arctic Circle.  It is a gentle reminder.  I remember being warm at the Ice Hotel.  It seems that today is very different in one respect.  No matter how you dress, the wind and chill strikes close to your heart.  Even if you hide in the subway, take shelter in the doorways, or walk in the sun, the cold creeps in.  The beautiful skies give you an assurance that escapes with each step outside. 
 
On days like this, it is easy to catch myself second-guessing everything.  Did I dress warm enough?  Was there something I could or should have done to stay warm?  Do I really need to be outside?
 
The uncertainty does not stop with the weather.  It is as if the cold invited a questioning spirit to rest on my soul, calling everything into question.  Am I paying enough attention to the important people in my life?  Did I cover the bases on my commitments?  Have I responded to the notice from the IRS?  No matter how certain I was yesterday, this morning everything seems to be in a state of uncertainty.  The simple outcome of this is fear.  I am afraid to step into the morning, uncertain of what may and will be just beyond my sight.
 
I do not know which is worse; cold or fear.  Usually I worry about cold first, fear second.  The reality of something I cannot control versus an emotion that comes without my bidding.  Today I find myself haunted by both. 
 
In the midst of this, in the quietness of the wind, in the warm of the sun, comes a quiet voice.  “I, yes I, am God.  I'm the only Savior there is.”  (Isaiah 43.11)  I know I will wrestle with the questions at hand, yet the assurance changes everything.  In the midst of everything, you and I have Hope.  In today’s harsh reality, there is a gentle Spirit responding to our soul’s cry.