Cryptic, yes.

I was talking to a friend yesterday about a situation I was freaking out about; something that I've been chasing in fruitless circles around my mind for a long time and have always ended up with the same uncomfortable conclusion. However, in the middle of our conversation, she said one of those "duh, I should have realized that all by myself" things to me and I sat there going, well, duh (of course). Then all my distressed-out feels started to fall away and even though nothing about the situation has changed, God stepped in and helped me to realize that what I was feeling wasn't just me feeling unable to deal with the situation, but it was that I was fearful. I don't think I've ever been so happy to find out that I was afraid of something. It's like having lots of strange physical symptoms for a long time and then finally getting a diagnosis. "Oh, it's Fear!" The problem is still there, it still needs to be medicated, but it sure helps to know what it's called.

Of course God didn't just leave me sitting there thinking "Woohoo! I'm afraid!". I walked away from that conversation into the dining hall just in time to catch the tail end of a meeting (there's been a Ladies' weekend going on here). Just as I walked in the door, Andrea started singing that song titled "Be Not Afraid". The words are from Isaiah 43 and go something like this:

"Be not afraid, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through the fire you shall not be burned... For I am Jehovah your God... you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you." Be not afraid.

Hmm, I believe can handle that. :)

EDIT/

I forgot to mention that once I started to be happy about being afraid, all the fear went away. Cool....