But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. – Luke 1:13

Can you imagine being Zechariah? Elizabeth had been barren for many years. They were well on in their years, way past the time of child bearing when Gabriel was sent.

I don’t know about you, but if an angel suddenly appeared by my side, I’d be fearful! Then to have the angel bring news of a baby coming at my age, oh my! Both Zechariah and Elizabeth had succumbed to the idea that they would have no children. They had a plan of acceptance – until Gabriel appeared.

So many times, we have a plan in our lives that doesn’t seem to work out as hoped. We finally turn to God. Then things make an about-face in a direction way off our base causing fear and apprehension.

Years ago, I was hired to do some very large paintings for a theater in Branson. I had never stretched canvas this large, let alone painted on it. Throughout the whole experience, God taught me not to fear. My first lesson came when I presented designs to the owner, and he said, “Those background colors are the same colors in the carpet.” I didn’t know what the carpet looked like.

Later, because the paintings were so large, I had to stand on a ladder to paint. One day as I was painting with two brushes in my hand, I dropped one and it hit the canvas where there was nothing. My heart sank. “God,” I pleaded, “I didn’t want to do this project, but you kept opening doors. Please help me fix this.” And He did!

At the end of my project, I sealed the first painting with polyurethane, and all my pencil marks showed up, now showing four arms and four legs on the dancer! But fear was replaced with confidence as I got on my knees to pray. I abruptly got up and ruined all the other nine canvases. And, yes, you’ll have to ask me how He fixed the problem. I learned to “fear not”, for God knows the plan.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, release our fears during times of weakness knowing You have the best plan for each of us.

Daily Reading: Matthew 12

– Contributed by Kathy Kollmeyer