"The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.”

We don’t know what the future holds, but we do know who holds the future in His hands. We may be surprised by some turn of events, but God is never surprised. We may feel powerless to change the outcome, but God is all powerful. He can do what He pleases. He can change things for the better, starting with the way we think and feel about our problems. He can lift our spirits just as He lifted those of the apostles when He promised, “These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye may have peace. In the world ye have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16: 33)

The Holy Spirit is the fulfillment of that promise; it is a spirit of faith and hope in a glorious future. And, as today’s Gospel says, that spirit is given unstintingly. Like the apostles, each one of us has received a gift of the Holy Spirit, a gift that we have to claim and use in order to rise above our circumstances.

We may fear that all is lost and that there is nothing we can do. We may feel helpless, but we are never hopeless. The God who set the stars in their courses can change the course of the events in our lives. We simply have to be open to the Holy Spirit and to new ways of thinking about what lies ahead. As it says in Proverbs, “A man’s heart deviseth his way; but Jehovah directeth his steps.” (Proverbs 16: 9)

If we allow our fears of the unknown to take over our minds, they will paralyze us. We have to be willing to cooperate with God’s grace and step out in faith. He gives every bird its food but He does not throw the seed into its nest. What is He calling you to do? Right now. This very day. What concrete steps can you take now to free yourself from fear of the future?

The answer to that question can be found in prayer. To make the most of each new day, we need to start with prayer and worship. We can join our prayer to the prayer of King David and say with confidence, “Into thy hand I commend my spirit: Thou hast redeemed me, O Jehovah, thou God of truth.” (Psalm 31: 5)

In times of turmoil and confusion, we also have to spend some quiet time in spiritual reading and reflection. We need to calm our spirits and let the dust settle in order to come to know the “peace that passes all understanding.”

Finally, we need to find a support group. We need to surround ourselves with positive-thinking, affirmative people, who are going through similar, difficult transitions. We need to ask them to be our prayer partners and we need to be there for them in their time of need.