Don’t Be Afraid

Isaiah 41:13,14 I am the Lord your God, who holds your right hand. And I tell you, ‘Don’t be afraid! I will help you.’ People of Israel, descendants of Jacob, you may be weak and worthless, but do not be afraid. I myself will help you.” This is what the Lord himself says. “I am the Holy One of Israel, the one who saves you.”

So often God’s wisdom – what He tells us to do, how He calls us to handle certain situations – is completely counter-intuitive. And when it comes to dealing with fear, His advice goes completely against the grain.

You know, sometimes … sure, we believe in God but we feel so weak, so powerless. You look around and everybody else seems to have their acts together. They look happy and normal and so you put on a face, but inside you’re uncertain, unsettled, perhaps even afraid at times. And the worst bit is you can’t really talk to anyone about it.

I did a search through the Bible on the phrase “do not be afraid” using the software I have on my computer and you know, it pops up 120 times in various different forms!

Now that’s easy for God to say, but there are times when our circumstances do cause us to be afraid. So if God’s going to tell us not to be afraid, when our natural reaction to something is to be afraid, then He has to give us a pretty darned good reason, right?

Well, here’s the reason that He gave to Israel at a time in their history when they had every right to be afraid:

Isaiah 41:13,14 I am the Lord your God, who holds your right hand. And I tell you, ‘Don’t be afraid! I will help you.’ People of Israel, descendants of Jacob, you may be weak and worthless, but do not be afraid. I myself will help you.” This is what the Lord himself says. “I am the Holy One of Israel, the one who saves you.”

That’s a pretty darned good reason to banish fear out of our lives, isn’t it? I am the Holy One of Israel, the one who saves you.

That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.