Our Hope: Fear Not!

‘Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous?  Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.’  Joshua 1:9 (HCSB)

All of us have fears.  We are all afraid of something.  Most people greatly fear death.  But we can fear heights, or have fear of being closed in.  We can fear becoming poor, or of being robbed, or assaulted.  We may be afraid of flying, or even of fast cars.  Some of us are simply afraid of everything.

Where does this fear come from?  It is not from God, I assure you.  He is not that kind of king.  He is THE King, the One who loves us beyond understanding.  No, fear comes from our enemy, satan.  Notice I do not capitalize his name.  I refuse to give him any importance, beyond the importance of knowing he is dangerous, but he is also defeated.  Hallelujah!

But fear, once it has hold of us, can be debilitating.  It can stop us in our tracks, cause us to give up, keep us from even beginning.  It can freeze us solid.  When we are caught by fear, we literally are not able to move in the ways and directions we wish to.  Our purposes are pushed aside, and we run and hide wherever, however, we can.

2 Timothy 1:7  tells us, ‘For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgement.’ 

Our Lord has promised to never leave us or forsake us.  One of my favorite songs has these words: ‘When He is by my side, who do I fear?’  When we stop and think about our God, and how He loves us,  values us, and has made us proven promises, yes, who do we fear?  There is no one on this earth of whom we need be afraid.  Once we are in God’s family, we are protected.  He has told us to give all our burdens to Him.  Why are we to give our burdens to Him?   Because once we give them to Him, truly and completely lay them at His feet, and leave them there, the fear immediately no longer has a hold over us.

God has made many promises to His people.  Living without fear is one of them.  Of course we will occasionally feel it; it is a natural emotion in our fleshly person.  But it does not have to be allowed to take over our lives, and stifle our faith, and our actions.  Once we recognize it for what it is, we have the power given to us by Jesus to cause it to flee.  He is Our Hope, and the words He spoke to satan in the desert hold true for us even today, ‘It is written’.  What is written in the scriptures is what will protect us.  Fear is not an option.  It has been defeated at the cross, when Jesus looked fear in the face and said, ‘It is finished.’

‘Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.’  Matthew 11: 28 (HCSB)

Blessings!