Refuse To Walk In Fear, But Instead Walk In Faith
Word-Of-The-Day: ‘For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, “Do not fear; I will help you.”’ (Isaiah 41:13); ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?’ (Psalm 27:1)
Isaiah 41 is the Lord, through Isaiah, telling Israel that He has chosen them, and that despite all that they have done, He is there to help and protect them. Psalm 27 is from David, a lamenting Psalm that he writes praising the Lord and providing that while everyone has turned against him (and at one point he was on the run from King Saul and the Israelite army, as well as the Philistines and a few others who had grudges against him). Both verses (and many others, including Psalm 23) tell us not to fear. Israel in Isaiah’s time had plenty to fear, as he lived during the reign of Hezekiah and the siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib, and as mentioned David when he wrote Psalm 27 also had plenty to fear about as well as he was being pursued by Saul’s ‘posse’.
Today we have many things that can provide us anxiety; money, employment, car and home upkeep, family members, even society can keep us on edge. We worry about our appearance, our actions, our acceptance by others – but God says many times over ‘Don’t fear!’ Anxiety and worry are nervous reactions to the anticipation of the unknown, with it being negative in bearing; a sense that something bad could happen.
When bad things do happen, it could be the sense of entrapment – ‘how do I get out of this mess?’ – that becomes the burden. Jesus tells us to hand our burdens over to Him, that we are not to worry about what will happen, focus on what you need to do today, and allow Him to be concerned with tomorrow. In Psalm 23, David describes that God is always with him, to correct and help him, and steer him through his darkest times of need – even in times of mortal danger, God is with him.
Don’t worry about those things that are outside of your control, God’s got it. The birds and the animals don’t grow food, yet they seem to find what they need – because the Lord provided it to them; how much more, Jesus said, that he wants to provide for you (Matthew 6:26). Don’t be concerned that others approve or disapprove, we are here to please an audience of one, Jesus! We may have society tells us one day that the Bible is outlawed, that one is ‘deplorable’ for attending church, but know that it is not them who we need to please, it is our Lord Jesus!
