Fear Not

The headlines these days are quite sobering. With major companies failing, with Wall Street panicking, and with international economies reacting to our financial tailspin, fear seems to loom large. All the problems that contributed to our current situation were in place when everything seem prosperous and happy -- we're just reaping the consequences now. But those consequences are immediate and tangible, for sure. Though I claim no special financial or economic insight, I do know two things we Christians are supposed to do in nervous times like these: 1) fear not, and 2) Intercede in prayer.

I count 34 instances of the command to "fear not" in the ESV translation of the Bible. Sometimes this phrase was directed to individuals, as to Abram ("After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: 'Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great'" in Gen. 15:1) or to the shepherds in Bethlehem ("And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord'" in Luke 2:10-11). But many more such exhortations are directed to the people of God, either in a historical connotation, such as Moses to the Israelites, or a prophetic connotation, as in the many exhortations in the book of Isaiah to fear not. ("For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, 'Fear not, I am the one who helps you.'"--Isaiah 41:13.)

All of these "fear not" commands have one very important element in common: they are all based in the character or work of God. We are not commanded to avoid fear because there were relief measures offered by our government, or a rally on Wall Street, or any other man-made solution. We are to avoid succumbing to fear because our God holds us in His right hand. It is His great pleasure to give us the kingdom. He is the first and the last, and He holds the keys to death. He is our Rock and upon His Word, we can rest in confidence.

Knowing that, I want to be like the widow with two copper coins, who gave all she had to live on to the purposes of Christ. I want to be like the widow who trusted Elijah and gave him food from her last meal. Faced with personal loss, these two women decided to be a blessing to others. There may be some tough times upon us now and in the immediate future, but I pray we Christians will demonstrate remarkable faith in God by avoiding hoarding and giving generously to the glory of God. May we stand out from our culture because of our trust in the Lord.

In the meantime, let us intercede for our leaders. Romans 13 says government leaders are God's servants for our good --a blessing of His common grace to restrain evil and promote good. We need to pray for righteous leaders, for wisdom to make sound decisions, and for their self-control to rule for the common good and not personal benefit. Certainly some very hard decisions are being made right now. Let us fear not the short-term consequences, but keep our eyes fixed on the eternal truths about God and His kingdom purposes.

Comments

[R. Wallis]

Great Blogging! You are 100% right. We as Christians have to "Fear Not" and "Have Faith" that God has a plan!

[CFB in NC]

Just wanted to say "thanks" for this post. While I'm not really fearing an economic meltdown, I do have lots of other worldly fears that creep in and steal my joy oh-so-very often. It was wonderful to be reminded once again of the pure and perfect goodness that is our Lord's Will. Thank you!

[Paige Moreland]

Thank you so very much for this post. Within the past week, all of my fears have caught up with me; sleep has fled, and I've become anxious and overwhelmed.

The past day or two, I've been praying, seriously praying, for peace and faith enough to realize I'm not controlled by these fears. God is holding me in His hand, and He has set me free from my fears. Your words, filled with God's truth, are a salve to my soul. :)

[Lori]

I found this post very encouraging. Thank you for posting this.