Perhaps the most well-known quote on fear comes from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In his first inaugural address on March 4, 1933, Roosevelt said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” His wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, also gave us a memorable quote on fear. “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face,” she said. “You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.”

Many of us have fears. A fear that says things will never change, that they can’t possibly improve. A fear that says you are helpless; and your situation, hopeless. Maybe you fear that your prayers won’t get answered, or that God has forgotten you. But it’s not true. “I am with you always,” Jesus told his disciples (Matthew 28:20). And He is with every man and woman who puts their trust in Him.

In biblical times, Israel had nothing to fear. And Christians have nothing to fear today. God assures us, as He assured Israel (Isaiah 41:10): “Fear not, for I am with you….”

“Celebrating abundance is the best antidote I know for fear,” Candy Paull writes in The Art of Abundance. Paull says abundance is not how much you own, but how much you appreciate. Simply look at what you already have. Consider the old hymn by Johnson Oatman, Jr., which Edwin O. Excell set to music and published in 1897:
“When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings; name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.”
To conquer your fears and celebrate abundance in your life, count your blessings before God. Paull suggests a little game she calls “Abundance is….” It’s a game of thankfulness, gratitude, and praise that anyone can play. Start with the basics, the little things for which you are thankful. Then think of things that hold potential and promise. Here’s how I celebrated my abundance today:

Abundance is…a gentle breeze on a glorious autumn afternoon.

Abundance is…a field of yellow and red fire wheels along a country path.

Abundance is…hearing my favorite Third Day song on the radio.

Abundance is…a slice of pecan pie.

Abundance is…a handwritten letter in my mailbox.

Abundance is…my husband’s fingers intertwined with mine.

Abundance is…my new kitten sleeping on the windowsill, basking in the sun.

Abundance is…a telephone call from my teenage stepson.

Abundance is…Ingrid Bergman and Curt Jurgens in a scene from The Inn of the Sixth Happiness.

Abundance is…walking into a Barnes and Noble bookstore.

Abundance is…a brilliant double rainbow after a thunderstorm.

Abundance is a great quote, like those from the Roosevelt’s. Or from mystery writer Agatha Christie, who wrote, “I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.”
Follow Candy Paull’s suggestion and “open your eyes to the world you live in.” Celebrating abundance will conquer your fears, renew your spirit, and refresh your heart.
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