“Therefore let not thy heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Believe in Me, and put thy trust in My mercy.” —The Imitation of Christ, III, 30
There are many circumstances that seek to take hold of our hearts. Fear and dread are among them and have the power to captivate a person completely or, at the very least, rob them of their inner peace.
From stories and reports, we know that in times of war, it is not uncommon for people to deliberately try to spread fear and dread to intimidate the enemy before the battle begins and use them as a weapon of war. If successful, the enemy’s fighting strength is weakened, and their courage may wane.
The situation is not much different on our spiritual journey of following the Lord. Here, too, we are engaged in a battle with various enemies who seek to defeat us. We know them: they are the disordered desires of our human nature, the temptations of the world, and especially the attacks of the devil, which seek to create disorder in our souls.
In all cases, we must turn to our Father, whether we have been led astray by our actions or by our unwise dealings with the world and its false temptations. Here, we find peace time and again. God comes to meet us with His mercy when we entrust ourselves to Him. The devil’s attacks are subdued when we take up the shield of faith, as St. Paul tells us: “Above all taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one.” (Eph. 6:16)
It is important that we do this immediately, so that fear and terror cannot spread and the soul does not remain in a state of confusion!