Dec. 6, 2018
Dear Pathway students:
Let us review the greatest story ever told found on Luke 2. You probably have this story all memorized. It begins with the duty of paying taxes. It continues with a long journey. The plot gets conflicted when no room can be found “in the inns” and the story ends when the Son of God is born. (Luke 2:7) No matter how many times we read the story of the birth of Christ, there is always something new we can learn from it. The last time I read the account of the first Christmas I noticed two words “Fear not.”
Here are some examples: To Zacharias, an angel appeared with the news that his wife would bear a son whom he would name John. The angel said, “Fear not, . . . for thy prayer is heard.” Later the same angel visited Mary announcing that she would be the mother of the Son of God, saying: “Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.”(Luke 1:30) Shortly thereafter an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife.”(Matthew 1:30) And then, on that holy night, the angel came upon the shepherds who were afraid, they heard the angel proclaimed, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.”(Luke 2: 9-10)
So much of what happened in those days depended upon the courage of people like Zacharias, Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds. Their lives were about to change forever. Imagine if they had let fear overcome them. What if they had pulled back, doubted, and failed to do what God needed them to do?
I, like you, have fears, and I need to be reminded at times to “fear not.” I don’t know what your fears are. Like Zacharias, who feared that he would never have children, we may have fears about our family. Or maybe our fear isn’t that we won’t have children but that we will have children, whom we will have to raise in a wicked world. Like Mary, we may have an assignment or responsibility that seems far beyond our abilities. Like Joseph, we may fear getting married—or that we will never get married. Like the shepherds, we may be afraid because God has plans for us that are bigger than what we have for ourselves.
Life presents endless opportunities to fear. We may fear what people think of us. We may fear failure or rejection. We may be afraid of changes we know we must make in our lives. Or maybe we are just afraid we may lose our job. We may be experiencing failure or rejection and wonder if we have what it takes. We may have fears of public speaking, educational and career fears, financial fears, and so on and so forth. Yes, we have the same fears people had in ancient times.
The Lord’s message to us today is the same message He sent through His angels so long ago: “Fear not.” He can say that because He knows more than we do. He sees what we cannot see. He knows what is coming, and, in the eternal scheme of things, it is not as bad as we may think. Most of all, He tells us not to fear because He knows that fear will paralyze us. It will keep us from doing His will; accepting His blessings, His love, and His light; and fulfilling His purposes.
Satan wants us to give in to fear. God wants us to hold on to hope.
President Uchdorf stated: “Certainly, our world has always been, and will continue to be imperfect. Far too many innocent people suffer because of circumstance of nature as well as from man’s inhumanity. The corruption and wickedness in our day are unique and alarming but in spite of all this, I wouldn’t trade living in this time with any other time in the history of the world. We are blessed beyond measure to live in a day of unparalleled prosperity, enlightenment, and advantage. Most of all, we are blessed to have the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which gives us unique perspective on the world’s dangers and shows us how to either avoid these dangers or deal with them. When I think of these blessings, I want to fall to my knees and offer praises to our Heavenly Father for His never-ending love for all of His children. I don’t believe God wants His children to be fearful or dwell on the evils of the world. “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” He has given us an abundance of reasons to rejoice. We just need to find and to recognize them. The Lord often reminds us to “be not afraid” to “be of good cheer,” and to “fear not, little flock.” I want to add the following: Fear not Little flock. You can do Pathway Connect with the Lord’s help and your great effort. You can do it!
Merry Christmas,
Sister Veronica Almeida
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