You and I are Commanded Not to Fear.
Last year a man hid in our bushes awaiting someone unaware to abduct. Fortunately, we were aware.
We learned he had been hiding in a nearby field for weeks.
The perpetrator had made two unsuccessful attempts at snagging women the previous weeks,
and had a previous crime record, so a personal description was established.
However, our guard dog had died, and my spouse moved to another city for the year.
When a real Boogie Man is at the end of your driveway,
a different level of alarm presents itself than when it’s a hypothetical beckoning to lock your doors!
Scripture speaks to fear and calls us out of it.
Simply stated, you and I are commanded not to fear.
It’s not a suggestion, and my situation is not an exception. Neither is yours.
The Bible never tells us, however, that there is nothing legitimate of which to remain afraid.
Hands down, I could be the poster child for fear!
My fears have spanned my years and could fill a closet for variety.
They have invaded my sleep and left me breathless.
Some of my fears are more irrational like avoiding the dentist for my routine teeth cleaning;
but I also understand what it’s like to fear for your life and the lives of your children.
You and I are commanded not to fear.
The disciples found themselves in a life and death situation, terrified and helpless.
Doing exactly what Jesus had asked them to do, these experienced fishermen were losing the battle between man and the sea.
It began to look like all hope for survival was gone.
That’s when they saw Him!
Instead of providing hope and comfort, the sighting of Jesus walking across the waves escalated into paralyzing shrieks of fright!
It had to be a ghost!
Instantly, Jesus met them in their urgent need.
Jesus saw them. He spoke to them and literally went out to them.
When cries were heard, Scripture tells us it was Jesus who immediately offered them His courage,
assuring them of who He was and that they need not be afraid.
You and I are commanded not to fear.
Matthew 14:22-27 KJV
[22] And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
[23] And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
[24] But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
[25] And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
[26] And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
[27] But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
https://bible.com/bible/1/mat.14.22.KJV
You and I are commanded not to fear.
It’s the same for you and me.
Jesus sees you in your fear or in what is paralyzing you.
In the middle of your hurricane-like situation, let His Word speak volumes over you.
He knows it’s scary.
But your Savior stands ready to give you His courage to restore you out of fear to trust Him through your storm.
Have you ever trusted in a product or service later to find out you had been duped?
You buy bottled water for its purity only to discover it’s from a tap in Milwaukee.
Or you wear an armband promising better balance along with intellectual clarity, sounder sleep and agelessness.
You want to believe it’s all true, but reality tells a different story.
That’s what happened in the case of the Piltman Man, the archeological finding that promised to provide the “the missing link” for evolution.
In the middle of the twentieth century, this landmark discovery was found to be a complete hoax.
The skull that was celebrated as a human mediary between ape and man actually originated from an orangutan.
It had all been a farce to perpetuate the authenticity of a desired outcome.
You and I are commanded not to fear.
John the Baptist finds himself in a dungeon, fearing just such a predicament.
Everything that was once transparent and absolute becomes clouded.
The herald of the Savior questions his own calling and judgment.
Did he make a mistake?
Because sitting in a dungeon is not how he calculated fulfilling his purpose.
To settle matters, John sent his disciples to Jesus.
He wanted to know if he’d been duped by a con-artist or if Jesus was the Savior he announced.
John was locked up in a dark, flea-infested, stench-filled dungeon indefinitely.
It’s the kind of place you and I have likely only read about.
But we can sympathize with how he acquiesced into questioning everything he’d ever known and believed.
What is important to note is the response from Jesus.
In essence, he calls upon John to compare what the Scriptures declare the Messiah will do with reality.
Yes! John got it right even though he couldn’t see through the darkness of his own experiences.
Sometimes life takes turns and swivels we never expected.
We can have our own dismal dungeon experiences of life.
I have a friend today whose life took an unexpected turn.
She left town with the children, quit her job and returned few calls.
I don’t know details, but that woman is having a dungeon experience of epic proportion.
Of this I am certain:
if God can restore John the Baptist, shaken in the dungeon about the very identity of Jesus, He can restore my friend in her catastrophe.
Whenever you find yourself in a dungeon experience, your God will restore you.
You and I are commanded not to fear.
Isaiah 35:3-6 KJV
[3] Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
[4] Say to them that are of a fearful heart,
Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.
[5] Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
[6] Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
You and I are commanded not to fear.
Also Read: Nothing is Too Hard for the Lord. – Diademng (thediademng.org)
