You Need Not Be Afraid!
The Bible is replete with illustrations of God’s plan for His children in its perfect unfolding throughout human history. The message is also clear that this happens not once or twice, not just occasionally, but always!
It also occurs not only with some people, but with everyone of God’s chosen everywhere. It is true that at times it may involve distress and some pain, but even then it is part of His perfect design for all His own.
As the late Amy Carmichael once wrote, “We are not here to be overcome, but to rise unvanquished after every knock-out blow, and laugh the laugh of faith, not fear.
Indeed, regardless of circumstances, a divine imperative remains unaltered: “Fear Not” - an expression which, I’m told, appears no less than 365 times in Holy Scripture. It is addressed to individuals, to families, to groups, and to God’s family in its entirety, at all times and places, from the first moment God’s interactions with His human creatures began.
We live today in a world which is becoming increasingly more complicated. With the steady population explosion, evil appears more dominant as further confirmation of the sin nature which is inherent to all human creatures. As a result, to some individuals, God even appears distant and disinterested, if not dead as others have erroneously proclaimed.
But God’s Word is true in its entirety! Many of its prophetic utterances have been literally fulfilled in different ages and siatuations. And what is yet to come to pass shall occur precisely as the Bible describes it. This includes not only judgment and condemnation, but also God’s continuing care of His own, the promise of His love, and the reassurance that He will never leave us nor forsake us under any circumstances.
Faith is the only antidote for fear. And we are talking here of faith in God and in His unfailing promises, since “without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6a). Amazingly, without faith it is also impossible to please ourselves, for where faith is weak or absent, fear dominates and living on earth becomes more difficult, if not unbearable.
You need not be afraid, anywhere, anytime. Look back into your personal history and recognize the instances when God came to your aid; hold on to God’s promises toward a future yet unknown, and live with confidence, in greater dependence on His infinite, unlimited resources! As the Moravian denomination has as its motto: “Our Lamb has conquered; let us follow Him!”
March 24th, 2008 at 12:12 am
Josué 1:9 - “Não to mandei eu? Sê forte e corajoso; não temas, nem te espantes, por que o Senhor teu Deus é contigo, por onde quer que andares.”