The Fear We Give Them

I was talking to my father tonight and he was praying with me and there was something he said while he was praying that stuck in my mind. It was this, "Our actual circumstances fall far short of the fear that we lend them." I was thinking about that and thinking about my circumstances. I think prior to what I had been experiencing I really didn't have fear, but now that I am aware of the level and depth of pain we can experience, I find myself afraid and I think about the future with a hesitation and an apprehension. I find it challenging to find solace in the fact that if the bad things happen I will be comforted. I'd rather they not happen, and the thought of them occurring makes me scared. But I do dwell on it, if I allow myself, and it grows in the recesses of my imagination until it chokes off all hope and I have condemned myself to the worst outcome before the verdict has even been rendered. I read a great quote, one of my favorite in fact, that deals directly with this. "He that has so many causes for joy and so great, choses to sit down on his little handful of thorns. Enjoy the blessings of this day, if God sends them, and the evils of it, bear patiently and sweetly. For this day is only ours. We are dead to yesterday and are not yet born to tomorrow. For if we look abroad and bring into one day the evils of many, certain and uncertain, what will be and what will never be, our burden will be as intolerable as it is unreasonable."

Lord, help me overcome my fear. I surrender the outcome of tomorrow to you today. For I cannot predict what it has in store, and I don't even know if I'll be in it. I have a good feeling I will, but I don't know for sure. Lord bless my daughter and fill her heart with joy. Give her peace and protect her heart from all that would seek to do her harm.

Is there anything I should be doing?
"Counting."
Counting what?
"The number of times I have told you I love you."
I can't count that high.
"I know. No one can. Listen to the hope I put in your heart when I formed you. Listen to it beating out your name. Each thumping is a record, a testimony of my faithfulness to you and my love for you. Be strong and hold on to my hand. Take my helm and follow. Close your eyes and listen to my voice, sense my presence and let me lead. Stop striving. Stop fighting and surrender. This battle is mine and I will have my will done."
I surrender to your precious will. Father. Heal my heart. In the deepest places. I open myself to you. You have exposed my fear, make it courage. You have exposed my doubt, make it faith. I love you!!!