Daily Reflection
October 16, 2026

Can I write a reflection without you in my mind? I would like to say I don’t worry about you, the reader. I would like to believe I only seek the truth, but what if you think me silly or naïve?

The baggage I bring to scripture often clouds the message. My baggage is my prejudice, my perspective, my background, my mood, my lack of understanding. Often I hear God as thundering from on high to a disobedient, cowardly child. If I look at “Be afraid of the one that can send me to hell,” in that setting, thundering from on high, then hope is hard to find. I don’t want to know that God.

I do need to be careful. I don’t get to know the God of my creation. I want, I need to take God as He is. If I am not careful, I’ll adjust God to be more comfortable. I don’t want to adjust my theology to fit my comfortable life. I want to adjust my comfortable life to fit my theology.

Can I honestly receive what is being taught today? I get advance notice of the readings selected for me. I have been thinking about today’s readings for weeks. I didn’t like the reading today. I didn’t want to tease out the different kinds of fear to make the verse fit.

I read a book on riding bikes off road, on the trail. The key is to focus on the path, not the stone in the path. You go where you look.

Jesus is telling me where to look. Don’t be afraid of the stone, my fear of others judgement and harm. Be afraid of the path. Focus on what truly matters.

Jesus sees I am afraid, focused on the perishable judgement of others, and He calls me friend. He offers advice I can live by.

Be afraid, focus on the one who knows every secret told in the dark, counts every hair on my head, and doesn’t allow a sparrow to go unnoticed. “Fear not, for I am with you.” (Isaiah 41:10)