Fear No Fear

He said, “I am God, the God of your father. Don’t be afraid to go down into Egypt, for there I will make of you a nation.
Genesis 46:3 (emphasis added)

Israel (Jacob) had lost his favourite son years before and had just been told that child (Joseph) was still alive. Still alive and also the second in command of all Egypt – one of the greatest nations on the face of the earth at the time. And that son was asking for his father, sending gifts, and begging for his father to come down to Egypt where they would all be taken care of by this favoured and powerful son.

Why would this man be afraid to go? The Bible doesn’t say. It says he was happy and eager to go to Egypt (Genesis 45:28). It does say he wanted to see his son before he died, so perhaps he feared that he wouldn’t survive the trip. Maybe he was concerned about going down to a foreign country with all his family (to save them from the famine ravaging the land) away from the land that God had promised would be his and his descendants. Maybe he was just afraid to go into the unknown. Somewhere along the line he was afraid. Call it nervous. Or anxious.

Boy, does THAT sound familiar. Sometimes everything seems to be tinged with anxiety. More-so now during these ‘next pandemic is coming’ times. Are we sick? Are those around us sick? Will we GET sick? Can we AVOID getting sick? Will rent get paid? Can we buy food? Does the boss want to see us because we did something wrong? Are there cut-backs? How’s the stock market? How are fuel prices? Maybe just being AROUND others sets us off. It can be crippling.
New can also be scary. Whether we’re being forced into new circumstances (evicted) or whether we’re being rewarded into new circumstances (promotion). Whether we’ve worked to achieve the new (graduating) or whether we have nothing to do with it (usual coffee shop is closed). Maybe a new house or an entirely new job. A new relationship. New can be nerve racking.

But God says don’t be. Don’t be afraid. Stop it RIGHT NOW. Don’t be nervous. Don’t be anxious. Why? Because He is GOD. He is the God of your ancestors. He is, always has been, and always will be God. He has the ability to take every situation thrown at you and turn it good. He can find a victory in everything and anything. Joseph had been sold into slavery for revenge of being the favourite son. What did he say about it years later? “As for you, you thought evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring about that many people should be kept alive, as they are this day” (Genesis 50:20). God did NOT want Joseph to suffer and God did NOT cause it to happen, but God DID use it and used it well.
I know this is not the theology of all believers. I know that some people think God puts things on us to test us. But I don’t think the bible supports that. Not if you read it as it is written. But look at Job, so many say. Okay. Let’s do that. Job didn’t trust God outside his own life. The trust didn’t extend outside his own self. He lived in fear. He sacrificed to cover sins ‘just in case’. He said (Chapter 3, verses 25-26) “For the thing which I fear comes on me, that which I am afraid comes to me. I am not at ease, neither am I quiet, neither do I have rest; but trouble comes.“

Job trusted that his life was in the hand of God, but everything else? He feared. He was anxious. He was a worrier. That put him into the territory of the devil. He gave OPPORTUNITY that wouldn’t otherwise be there for the devil to really take a swipe at him. The devil had authority because of Job’s mental and heart state, the words he spoke, and got to touch everything IN his life but NOT his life – the one thing Job was certain of was that his life was in God’s hands.
Gog wasn’t trying to teach Job a lesson – but He used the circumstances to teach one. This was NOT a celestial bet – one way to translate God’s words to the devil is as a firm warning: Have YOU been considering MY SERVANT?!?!? What follows is Job struggling and enduring something that he gave opportunity for. There are a whole LOT of different lessons we can learn from this. From focusing on God to enduring suffering to not questioning what we don’t understand. There is so much in Job where we can find ourselves. But the biggest take away should be this: what we are full of, that is what we speak. What we speak, that is where we find ourselves.

Jesus said it in Matthew 12:34 and Luke 6:45. I like the Luke best: “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings out that which is good, and the evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings out that which is evil, for out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks.” How does that apply to Job? Well, the devil shows up in the Court of Heaven and God asks where he has been and what he has been doing – whenever God asks a question like this you’re in trouble because God knows everything. When He asks you for information you both know He already has, there is a lesson coming. The devil tells Him and God demands to know what business he has considering Job. Sniffing around the life of this upright man. The devil tells God it’s all a sham. A house of cards. An upright heart full of doubt and worry. God tells the devil Job has placed himself outside the fence of the Lord through his worry and not putting God in the proper place (the source and sustainer of all in Job’s life). Not his life, only the things in his life. And the devil does his best. He goes after every area where Job is not trusting to the Lord. Every area that Job hasn’t given over to the Lord. And he reaps EXACTLY what he has sown.

But the Lord doesn’t leave either Job OR us in that place. He never leaves us in the trouble we bring upon ourselves (Deuteronomy 31:8). He never lets us be tempted in order to prove (meaning He KNOWS we will succeed and is letting us prove it to ourselves) our ability to rest in Him without giving us a way to escape the pressure before it overcomes us (1 Corinthians 10:13). He ALWAYS gives us a way to victory. It is ALWAYS the same way: through and in JESUS. We can abide in Jesus. We can worship Him, dwell in Him, and ask Him what to say before we speak. We do NOT have to do what the world does.

It is a CHOICE where you put your eyes and what words you put in your heart. Don’t be anxious – 7 times. Don’t let your heart be troubled – twice. See that you aren’t troubled. Don’t be troubled. In nothing, frightened. Don’t fear – that one fourteen times. Throughout the Word from the beginning to the end God is NOT letting this one go. We have a CHOICE. We can use the Word of God to let Him transform our minds and our hearts and develop them into an oasis of peace. His Peace. By Grace, through Faith, in Christ Jesus our Lord. We are NOT doing this in OUR strength or by OURSELVES. Stuff may be happening. But it does not need to happen TO you. It will simply happen AROUND you.
This is a serious thing. I see it time and time again in those around me. In those on social media, for example. And I see it in my own life, cringing as I think ‘Why did I say that?’ People give permission to the most foolish things. People speak the most terrible events. We do it automatically. Without thinking. We’ve forgotten words have power. We’ve forgotten that words MEAN things. Everything to us is hyperbole. Everything is exaggeration. I’m starving. I’m dying to. I’m freezing. How often are these things actually TRUE? Rarely, if ever. Not outside a war zone or an environmental disaster, anyway. But we say it and think it and keep on doing it. We feed into the negative. We feed into the worry. We feed into the anxiety. We feed into the depression. We tell ourselves it is natural, normal, part of the natural order, beyond our control. And then we wonder why our coping mechanisms and therapy sessions don’t seem to be improving us like they should be.

It is all about ATMOSPHERE. Don’t speak death – which is EVERYTHING and ANYTHING that isn’t LIFE. Don’t speak lack. Don’t speak depression. Don’t speak poverty. Don’t speak inability to succeed. Don’t speak fear. Will it magically wipe away negative circumstances and feelings? Of course not! But if we are not AGREEING with the bad, if we aren’t PROGRAMMING an atmosphere of failure, we are more likely to notice the good. If we aren’t always complaining, we’re more likely to hear the whisper of the Holy Spirit. We are more likely to see the lies of the enemy as lies. We are more likely to notice the fear mongering of the world AS fear mongering.

I recently read an article in the paper bemoaning the upcoming property tax increase. That it was the largest one in FOREVER. How are we going to manage? What will we do? This is the largest increase on record for this city EVER. That’s all fear. Fear and worry and lack. But if you continue reading you see it is because of inflation, supply chain issues, natural and reasonable things. AND every other community in the region is doing the exact same thing for the same reasons. Yes, it is a large increase in comparison to other years, but it isn’t a reason to fear. It isn’t a reason to worry. It is a sign of the times and easy to deal with.

At the end of the day, for the average person in this city where I live, it will amount to an extra $500-$1000. For the year. That’s about $80 a month. You see? That is NOT a horrific amount. It is NOT unreasonable. Will it be hard to get it all together all at once for taxes? For many it will. But it won’t be the end of the world. It is one more economic challenge in an economic world. From a spirit point of view? It’s nothing. A blip. The Lord knew it was coming. He has a plan for you to have that money in time. It probably won’t fall from the sky (but I’m not going to limit God). Chances are good there will be some effort involved (but again, maybe not). Maybe it’s an extra job you can pick up. Maybe it’s a scheduled payment plan. Maybe it will be a gift from someone who is thinking of you. It could be so MANY things. God knows how to deal with it in the way that will be the best for YOU. In the end, the tax increase will be something that happened, not something that destroyed you or derailed your life. It will be a situation, not a fear. Not a worry. Not a problem. Just a happening.
Try this. Don’t watch the news or read it. Just look at the headlines. The highlights. Avoid the deep details. If you see something that is negative, verbally reject it. New virus discovered – I don’t accept that into myself. If nuclear war happens you could – No thanks, God sustains me. Are you feeling down with – Nope, I’m doing well in the Lord. Try it.

Take five days or a week and try it. Check only the highlights (if you want to stay informed about what’s happening) and then read a chapter of the bible with intent – that’s reading expecting to be shown something new. At the end of the time, you’ll be aware of what’s happening out there but you will have taken NONE of the fear on yourself. You’ll be more secure in how you feel and with what the Lord has been showing you in the Word. It will change how you view everything. You will have more confidence that God is beside you all the time. That He HAS a plan. And that He WILL communicate that plan to YOU, be with YOU as you ENACT it, and get you through EVERYTHING that is facing you HAND-IN-HAND with you (Matthew 19:26).

God goes with us into ALL our rewards OR our trials – and turns our trials into a reward. Do NOT be afraid because for those who dwell IN the Lord, there are NO reasons for stress, worry, anxiety, OR fear (Psalm 91). Jesus is our victory EVERY time, EVERY place (1 Corinthians 15:57). Trust Him. Today, and every day after.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Psalm 136

“His loving kindness endures forever” (emphasis mine). It doesn’t say it once. It says it TWENTY-SIX times. Throughout ALL KINDS of circumstances. Yahweh has loving kindness that endures FOREVER because He IS go0d. Because He IS the God of gods. Because He IS Lord of Lords. Because ONLY He does wonders. And then it tells of His FAITHFULNESS. Well, all that loving kindness? It doesn’t have a best before date. It doesn’t have a start date either. Yahweh God is Father of Eternity (Isaiah 9:6). That means He created time but He also created endless existence without the passage of time. He existed before the timeless time of eternity. There is NO START DATE on God. His love has no starting and no ending. His steadfast love endures forever. It is at ALL times, it is constant, and it is limitless in duration. He loved you, He never stopped loving you, He never will stop loving you, and He CANNOT stop loving you. God IS love (1 John 4:16) and that is what He DOES. Love, love, love, love, love. Forever. And ever. And then even longer than that. Yes, He corrects and He guides, but it is BECAUSE He loves (Hebrews 12:6). He is RIGHTEOUS and He wants YOU to abide in Christ so that you too are righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21) and be with Him ALWAYS. THAT is love.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.