There are so many things happening these days that it all tends to increase our level of fear. We hear of shootings, we watch all of the political shenanigans and we begin to worry about the future, especially for our children. When we begin to fear, it is always good to go back and refresh our hearts concerning the truth given to us in God’s Word. Certainly we know these things. They’re not new, but we sometimes forget when we take our eyes off of what is true. So let’s review a few things.
The first thing we need to remind ourselves of is that “God has not given us a spirit of fear” (2 Timothy 1:7). If the spirit of fear is not from God, we surely know where it is from. It is from the one who Jesus called the father of lies. Not believing the lies but believing the truth is where we need to start. In order to believe the truth, we need to know what the truth is, and have it firmly planted in our minds and hearts. All the while we understand that “faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:6). That means our faith will seem to defy what things look like all around us. What we see and hear doesn’t give us peace. And it is not generic faith that dissipates fear. It is believing in the God of the Bible that keeps us secure.
One of the key truths we need to keep in mind is that God is with us. Jesus promised to be with us until the end of the age. In Isaiah 41:10 we read, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Through all of the perils of life, God has promised to be right there with us, to give us strength, to help and to uphold. Whether it appears that way or not, it is true and we should believe it. Now I realize that this is more easily said than done. So we need to not just glibly say that God is with us. But we need to reassure our hearts over and over with this truth until there is strong settled belief.
A couple of chapters later, Isaiah writes this to the people of God, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you” (Isaiah 43:1-2). One of things I know we worry about is that although we know God is in control of all things, some of the things he controls actually do hurt. But His promise here is that when we go through the tough things, He is right there with us to help and sustain. God is working all things together for our good and His glory. Sometimes we begin to focus on what we think is our good, but I think that God’s opinion of what is our good, or the goal He is shooting, for is often different from what we think it should be. God is working in us to conform us to the image of Christ for the glory of Christ. We often forget that, or at least we minimize it because our focus is on health, safety and comfort. When these are threatened we feel like our “good” is being attacked when in fact it is being enhanced. That’s why James can tell us to count it all joy when we fall into various trials because these help produce other positive characteristics that God is looking for (James 1:2). Paul also writes the same thing in Romans 5 where he tells us that character, endurance and hope are the result of suffering. Somehow we are to learn to rejoice in these things because we become firmly convinced that the results will be good. And this is true for our children as well. So while it is difficult to see them go through hard things, if we work with them through it, these things will make them stronger.
One of the things I especially like about the Isaiah 43 passage is that God says that he has called us by our name, and we belong to Him. We are His treasured possession and He is not about to allow anything to happen that will thwart His ultimate goal of increasing our good for His glory. What God sets out to do He accomplishes. God says, “Do not fear little flock, for it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). We are someday destined to rule and reign with Him and therefore, although the preparation period is sometimes difficult, it should not generate fear in us but rather faith and hope in what God is accomplishing.