“Dear friends, don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot do any more to you after that. But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, he’s the one to fear. “What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.
Luke 12:4-7

Dear God, I spent some time studying about and thinking about Naomi yesterday. As I now sit here and think about this verse I can only imagine how these words might have hit her early in Ruth chapter 1. She had the world collapsing around her. No husband. No sons. Two daughters-in-law who didn’t have much more agency, if any, than she did. The combination of mourning the loss of her husband and sons and fear of what happens next must have been overwhelming. I cannot imagine the grief that would come with losing my wife and two children. Adding insecurity over my fiscal survival to the equation might push me to the edge.

But your words through everything are to trust in you. Even regarding death. If my path is to walk into death, I can do it peacefully because the end here on earth is not the end. Yes, it is easier to say these things in a peaceful moment than live them in the midst of trials, but the only way I have a shot at living this out in a trial is if I do my best to learn the concept now.

Father, I don’t know what is next for me. I don’t know the path my children are walking or what is in store for them. Nor do I know what is ahead for my wife and me. Thank you for reminding me this morning that was don’t need to fear. Thank you that you care more about me. Thank you for Jesus saying and Luke recording that I have nothing to fear but you, and you love me immeasurably.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen