Fear No Fear

(All scripture from Lexham English Bible, Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software)

And Yahweh passed over before him, and he proclaimed, “Yahweh, Yahweh, God, who is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding with loyal love and faithfulness, keeping loyal love to the thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and he does not leave utterly unpunished, punishing the guilt of fathers on sons and on sons of sons on third and fourth generations.”

Exodus 34:6-7

Adonai doesn’t reckon time as we do. Why should He? He exists OUTSIDE of time. He is the Father of Eternity. He is NOT bound by the arrow of time like we are. He is not in a fixed position. He is fluid and outside the system. He can turn the box any way He wants and look into any aspect of it from any side that He wishes. He can change anything at any point in time and we won’t notice it until all of time is rendered done and we see the whole as a static piece like Him (in heaven once everything is done). Until then, HE sees the all and every. WE see only the piece we travel on AS we travel it. They are VERY different perspectives, which is why He has such a great store of long-suffering or patience. He doesn’t FEEL time like we do.

Unfortunately for us, we are in a fallen world and don’t have access to time like He does. So we feel the passage of time, but we don’t feel it consistently. We can be rushed, time passing too quickly. Moments can drag out, seeming to take nearly forever. I think this is akin to a compass that loses its direction and spins in magnetic torque trying to find its orientation among multiple external magnetic fields. We have lost our lodestone, as it were, and are left without control of our sense of time. Living moment to moment, but with no control over how long those moments feel. Adonai knows this and comforts us. Jesus experienced it and knows how we feel (Hebrews 4:15-16).

Adonai defers his anger and doesn’t give us what we deserve (Romans 4:15). Adonai poured ALL the wrath He has toward sin on Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:22). He tried for OVER four hundred years to get through to the Amorite people who had rejected Him (Genesis 15:16). That’s pretty patient. He does the same with us. “For God did not send his Son into the world in order that he should judge the world, but in order that the world should be saved through him. The one who believes in him is not judged, but the one who does not believe has already been judged, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God” (John 3:17-18). Only ONE sin gets you out of His presence (what we call Heaven) and into the Not-Presence (what we call Hell): not believing in Jesus as Lord and Saviour and committing to Him (Romans 10:9-10). All this time the world is doing this and doing that and He isn’t mad at them. He expended that anger already. ALL He is doing is trying to get them to accept the payment Jesus made so they don’t take on themselves the judgment coming for all who don’t accept Jesus’ payment. It’s like eating at a restaurant. End of meal, the bill is due. Jesus paid your tab. You can reject that and pay yourself, or accept it and not have to pay. It’s that simple.

Ruach HaKodesh convicts us of righteousness (John 16:8). That means that every day all day long He is showing us who we can be when we trust in Jesus. He corrects us so that we trust in Jesus. He exults when we trust in Jesus. He is grieved when we don’t trust in Jesus. It is all about Jesus. And the reason He can do that day in and day out, never tiring or wavering regardless of what WE do or don’t do, is that He is Elohim and He has long-suffering/patience as His character. There are times I don’t go two days without shaking my head and needing His patience to deal with my kids who are AGAIN doing the same foolish behaviour that got them in trouble last time. But I CAN be patient because HE IS PATIENCE. It’s a Fruit I can engage. I don’t have to grow it, develop it, strengthen it, or anything else. I can simply engage HIS and choose to use it. I can do that because He is patience. I can be because He is. I don’t need people in my life as ‘grace growers’ teaching me patience. I can simply use His. It’s SO MUCH EASIER. Of course, by doing that and learning the Word about His patience, renews my mind and bit by bit shapes my character so that in the end I am like Him and have patience.

Without His patience, we would be in so much trouble. Without His patience, we would have a stressful life. But WITH His patience, time isn’t pressing. Deadlines don’t loom. We can deal with everything as it happens, if it happens, and not borrow or grow anxiety about anything. Because we’re awesome? NO! Because HE is patience itself, and we can use that to school our feelings and our thoughts. Because we can abide in Jesus and the Sabbath Rest He is Lord of. All you need is love, right? He is Love and Patience is a child of that love. Doubt is a child of fear and an enemy of patience (1 John 5:14). We can use patience to slay doubt (Nahum 1:7). If we’ll listen to His words, we never have to worry (Proverbs 2:1-7). We never have to be impatient (Psalm 25:4-5). We never have to choose anger or strife or anything that is outside of who He is and what He is and how He does things. He is long-suffering. We can be too in HIM (Psalm 37:7-9).

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: Philippians 4:9

“And the things which you have learned and received and heard about and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you” Practise doesn’t make perfect, but practice makes better as we travel toward perfection. We have been given a wealth of instruction in the Word. Jesus’ constitution of Matthew 5-7. His addendums of Luke 6:20–49. His exhortations of John 13-17 – especially His prayer for us in John 17. And then the example of the Twelve and the Apostles walking out the teachings in Acts. And the letters and vision of the rest of the New Covenant teachings. So many things we can engage and walk in. Trusting in Jesus and applying the Word just as it is written, letting Ruach HaKodesh commentate on it as we go. What is the promise then? That if we seek Adonai, if we seek Jesus, if we do what HE ways we can do? His peace will be with us. Not might be. Not if we do it well. Not if we succeed. If we PRACTISE. If we love Him enough to listen, and trust Him enough to obey – even imperfectly (1 John 1:9). If we do it with intent – INTENDING to succeed – then His peace is with us. That peace that goes beyond our understanding (Philippians 4:7), that soothes us, that helps us be in a place where we are NOT panicked, NOT pressured, and are able to EASILY choose not to worry, not to be troubled, and not to be fearful. Why? Because His peace is with us. It’s a GREAT arrangement. It’s a GREAT walk to be on, hand in hand with Him (Matthew 19:26). What a GOOD God!

Your Daily Confession of Elohim’s Goodness:

I taste and see that Yahweh is good; I am blessed because I take refuge in Him.

Psalm 34:8