Fear Not

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”(Psa. 27:1)

In this world where evil and hardship appear to be around every corner, it is easy to be afraid. The Bible tells us many times, though, to “fear not” and “be not afraid.” God knows our fears and He does not want us to be afraid. He never intended for us to be separated from Him. His desire was for us to be in a relationship with Him and not to be afraid. The first time fear is mentioned in the Bible is after the fall of Adam and Eve. Fear is a result of our fallen state and never what God intended. (Gen. 3: 1-10)

It is only through Jesus Christ, our Saviour that we can experience the true peace that God wants us to have. He is the Prince of Peace. He is the love of God come to earth. Jesus Christ is God’s gift to restore our relationship with Him. This perfect love casts out all fear. “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us.” (1John 4:18-19)

Fear not is the Word in Jesus Christ. He redeems us and releases us from captivity and death. We must repent and live in obedience to God and listen to that small voice that is guiding us. We must follow Jesus’ lead with confidence knowing that He will take care of us. When we do this we can rest with the knowledge that God is working in our lives and we can watch in wonder and amazement how He works things out. We must remember to wait on the Lord. His timing is perfect and we must have patience and courage. In Revelation 1:17-18 Jesus Christ says “ Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” He was there from the beginning and is there at the end and is in everything in between. He is in control. He knows our fears and what we are going through, but He is there for us, living inside of us to help when we need Him. We must never forget that He is in control and He will never leave us alone. We no longer need to be afraid. We no longer need to fear death. This is His gift to us.

We know that we are living in a corrupt world. Sometimes it is hard to believe we have fallen so far and people can’t see it. Right now we are in the birth pangs before the dawning of a new world ruled by Jesus Christ. Until that day arrives we must be strong and of good courage. Jesus is counting on us to continue to do His work until He returns. We must live our lives waiting for the Lord’s coming and shift our focus from what is happening now, to His soon return. Just as the farmer waits so patiently for the rain to come, so we must be patient also. We cannot hurry God and we know that His timing is perfect.

Until that day we must be steadfast and have confidence in God’s timing and judgments. When we are suffering is the time that we should remember most that Jesus’ return is near. We have no need to fear. We must live in the light of His coming.

“And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the Lord God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord.” (1Chronicles 28: 20)