On that day, says the Lord of hosts, you shall invite each other to come under your vine and fig tree.
—Zechariah 3:10

Many people are suffering the loss of their jobs during this hard economic period in our history. As difficult as the loss of income is to those who are laid off, the greater danger is the internal fear that such a loss causes. It’s as if everything we trusted is now uncertain. We don’t know what we can count on or what we can believe. It may feel as if God is distant or absent.

We may wonder why God allowed this difficulty to happen to us and if God will intervene to help us. Such inward fear makes us want to retreat into ourselves. We want to circle the wagons, throw up the moat, man the sails. We may turn down social invitations, or become more distant from our friends and co-workers, and we may even find that we turn away from God.

Then in a moment when we least expect it, we suddenly see or feel God’s presence again. We may not have a new job, we may still be struggling to pay our bills, but somehow we know God’s Spirit is close to us, and we are not so afraid anymore. When we are no longer afraid, we fling open the doors, pull down the walls, and plan a celebration. 

We invite others into our lives and our heart. We share moments of feasting and fellowship. We find our heart grows in hospitality. In short, we find God’s Spirit moving in us, through us, and out of us.  It isn’t a job or money, but our fear, that keeps us separated from others. But, on the day that our soul feels God, we begin to invite everyone in just as God is always inviting us in.

Gracious God, when fear closes my heart, let your love open it to the world.

^{Copyright © 2009 Cleophes Carter, Jr.}