Whenever angels visit humans in both the Old and New Testaments, it is because something big is about to happen.

An Angel announced that Sarah was going to have a baby…. fulfilling her deepest desire.  

An angel told Moses he would free the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, and become a great leader.  

An angel informed Mary she was going to bear God’s Son – that’s pretty big.

And at Easter, the angel told the women at the tomb that Jesus had risen.  

Why is it that the opening line is always, “Do not be afraid”?    

Whenever the unexpected happens, we tend to feel afraid.  When we are asked to do great things, or step out of our comfort zone, we tend to feel afraid.  Anytime we move forward in Faith, we tend to feel afraid.   We think,

“How will I know what I’m doing? How will I know if I’m doing it right?

The truth is, being fearful does not help us.   In fact, fear is one of the things that keep us from moving forward towards our best selves and the fulfillment of our life’s purpose.  When we are fearful, we shy away, fall back, and avoid.  It’s instinctive to do so. The animal part of us is all about safety and survival.  In fact, stress and anxiety are a result of feeling chronic insecurity and fear.

Jesus showed us that where there is faith, there is no room for fear.  

He trusted God alone, and lived from a place of complete faith. From that faithful position, there was no self doubt, no fear of how or what he was doing. No fear of death; just trust in God and the belief that as long as he was in alignment with God, his true purpose would be revealed. 

We are fortunate to live in a culture and a society where we do not have to fear death moment by moment, day by day, thank God.  Most of us have a roof over our heads, food on our tables, and clothes on our backs.  Yet we are plagued with stress, anxiety, self doubt, and a profound fear of death.

How do we overcome this?  We look to Jesus and do our best to understand what he came to teach us.  To live into our greatest potential, to be the best we can be, and to live a connected life.  A life of Love (with a capital L).  He did not simply tell us,

He showed us how to love God, with all our hearts, souls and minds.  

How to love ourselves, because we are each created in the image of God.

And how to love our neighbors, because they too, all of them, are created in the image of God.  

This kind of enlightenment, which is much easier to say, than to live, is what we strive toward at Beachwood.  

When we shift our focus away from fear, and toward faith, we discover that stress, anxiety, and self doubt fall away, and peace and joy fill in.

Won’t you join us on this journey?  Join the community, and discover all the ways that living Inspirited can help you focus on living YOUR life fearlessly, so you can create a life you love!