Fear No Fear

When she was in hard labor, the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for now you will have another son.”
Genesis 35:17 (emphasis added)

We can feel very alone. When we ask of the Lord and the answer doesn’t immediately manifest. When we’re struggling with a problem. Facing a difficulty. Having to endure treatment at the hands of the unkind or cruel. Or because no one is available to hang out with. Maybe you have to isolate. Alone. In an unfamiliar place – or worse, an overly familiar place. We can be alone whether there are other people around us or not. It’s a terrible feeling to struggle alone.

Take heart. You are SEEN. You are NOT alone. How can we tell? God Himself tells us in His Word.

Deuteronomy 4:31 “For Yahweh your God is a merciful God. He will not fail you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which he swore to them.“

Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or scared of them, for Yahweh your God himself is who goes with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you.“

Joshua 1:5 “No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not fail you nor forsake you.“

John 14:18 “I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you.“

Hebrews 13:5 “Be free from the love of money, content with such things as you have, for he has said, ‘I will in no way leave you, neither will I in any way forsake you.’“

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 “We are pressed on every side, yet not crushed; perplexed, yet not to despair; pursued, yet not forsaken; struck down, yet not destroyed;“

Jesus said we would not be orphaned. We would not be alone and without someone to guide us or care for us. But it doesn’t always feel like that, does it? But Jesus said it. And Jesus does not lie, does He? Can we believe Him? Can we be sure of His words? Accept that they are true? If so, then our FEELINGS don’t matter. Our FAITH does.

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen.“

When we feel alone we can be confident the Holy Spirit is with us – Jesus said He would send the Spirit/Advocate/Helper to us in John 14:25-26: “I have said these things to you while still living with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you.” That sounds a lot like the midwife from Genesis from today’s verse, doesn’t it? Someone who will be beside us, taking care of us, and advising us even in our struggle. Someone who is there more when we are struggling than when we’re not, because who needs a midwife to coach, guide, and care when you’re not giving birth?

Life isn’t exactly easy. Because creation is under the curse. When man rejected the authority of God, everything changed. When man traded perfect love for fear, everything changed. Everything started decaying and dying. Everything got twisted. Our spirits – the righteous guide for our mind – died. Flesh became the main deal. Flesh is all about sensation, not preservation. Think of the human sensory system. All those nerves. All that input heading into our brains. All those FEELINGS. Physical as well as mental. It can overload us. Because it was never meant to be unchecked. It was never meant to be unprocessed.

It was meant to be processed. Not by our brains, though. Flesh is not meant to be processed by flesh. Not meant to be understood by flesh. Flesh is the input of the system. Our soul (mind/personality/emotions) is where the input goes. It is the computer where it all churns around. The spirit is meant to be the control. The guide. The check. The USER of the computer. Interpreting the input and informing the soul what to do/say/emote. The flesh is our unbridled feelings. If you let anything in life go unchecked, unmonitored, and unrestricted, you’re asking for trouble. Our feelings AREN’T real. They are just RAW INPUT. Our EMOTIONS, controlled by our mind, informed by our spirit, are REAL. That is why we need the Holy Spirit so much. He helps us inform our flesh. He helps our soul to understand what’s coming from our spirit. He helps us to filter the RAW from the REAL.

Back to today’s verse. In the midst of that labour the midwife did something. She proclaimed the end result. She acted as we are all meant to act. She acted as Holy Spirit acts. She didn’t look at the raw. She looked at the result and spoke to that. Abraham did the same thing. “As it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations.” This is in the presence of him whom he believed: God, who gives life to the dead, and calls the things that are not, as though they were. Against hope, Abraham in hope believed, to the end that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, “So will your offspring be” (Romans 4:17-18). Based on the word of God, Abraham spoke to the end result, not where he was – and spoke the Word he had been given. That is how WE should be. We’re not speaking out things and desires waiting for them to manifest. We’re not calling out to the universe and getting ‘positive vibrations’ going. We’re looking at the WORD, seeking out the WILL of the Lord, and we’re speaking to THAT. THAT is what we stand on. THAT is what we call out. THAT is what we speak to get manifestation: The Word. The midwife knew it and spoke to it.

Rachel didn’t know it. She was hopeful and struggling to achieve, but it was hard and she felt she was losing the battle. She was (understandably) consumed by the flesh. How could she not? She didn’t have indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Birth is a CHALLENGE. It is an almost all-consuming process. It takes a LOT of thought, feeling, and strength. She was lost in a sea of NOW. The proclaimed result helped her make it through that. She kept it in her sights and didn’t give up. In the end she got to see it, though she couldn’t enjoy it. She didn’t get to walk in it. She died giving birth. But in the middle of it, she’d been told what would happen. And it happened.

The Holy Spirit does the same for us. Which is good because these times we live in are volatile. They are the birth-pangs of the end of the run, so to speak (Luke 21:8-9). They are full of every kind of disturbance. But we don’t have to lose heart. If we focus on the proclaimed Word result, we too can make it through. We may have to sacrifice – we’re not promised easy-peasy but victory (John 16:33). We might not WALK in it, but we’ll get to SEE it.

God knows our struggle. God sees our alone. Our pain. Our fight. He tells us NOT to fear. Because He knows the end result and tells us everything the Father tells Him (John 15:15). He gave us a glimpse of the End Times so that we would not be deceived and lose heart (the Revelation to John). He made provision for your problem before you knew you had one (Psalm 132:15-18). Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy have MANY examples of telling Moses about things that would happen hundreds of years in the future and what the Lord would do about it. He SEES us. We are VALID. Our struggle is valid. He doesn’t invalidate our choice in the moment. He doesn’t remove our free will. But He knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10) and plans around our humanness (Jeremiah 29:11). He has from before the beginning (Isaiah 46:10). He has from before the beginning (Ephesians 1:4). He has been operating in FAITH since before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8).

He proclaims our result. He knows it. He’s planned for it. We can trust Him with it. We do NOT need to fear. The best antidote for fear? God’s love. It brings Peace. Don’t feel peaceful? Don’t worry. He has THAT covered too. “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, I give to you. Don’t let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful” (John 14:27).

We have a CHOICE. Choose HIS peace.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Deuteronomy 6:4-9

This is the single greatest commandment in the Word: to love Yahweh your God. But don’t read it like a command. If you let it, it will read like wedding vows. When we agree and pledge to love, honour, and obey someone. In all conditions. No matter what. Operating by CHOICE and not FEELING. DECIDING with ALL OUR WILL that THIS ONE PERSON is going to be IT. Forsaking all others. Not a focus on passion, but a WALK together. A lifetime journey taking you from singleness to togetherness in ways unforeseen by anyone but God. THAT is a marriage decision. THAT is a relationship decision. A good one CANNOT be shaken and WILL NOT be laid down. Intimacy. Yahweh God wants an intimate relationship with us. To KNOW us. As a husband knows a wife. No barriers. Nothing held back. Everything exposed. NO SECRETS. Without shame, blame, guilt, or domination. To walk together hand in hand, forsaking the past and looking to the future of TWO TOGETHER which is before you. These verses tell us that we could enter into the best relationship we could ever have. And it will last forever. We simply have to CHOOSE it. To accept Him. It’s the easiest thing in the world, and it will make all the difference in your life. Whether you have life that you make it through or abundant life full of JOY regardless of circumstance (John 10:10). Choose the Father today. Take His hand and start on the best journey of your life.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.