Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

Life will be clearer than the noonday. Though there is darkness, it will be as the morning. You will be secure, because there is hope. Yes, you will search, and will take your rest in safety. Also you will lie down, and no one will make you afraid. Yes, many will court your favour.
Job 11:17-19 (emphasis added)

This is a basic promise of the Word that we see again and again: If you focus on God you won’t notice what is happening around you the same way. We’ve just gone through several years of lockdown in a world-wide pandemic. We’re facing food inflation. We’re facing economic upheaval. We’re facing supply chain disruption. And I tell you the truth. If you visited my house and hung out for a day or a week in the background, you wouldn’t have noticed. Not really. We didn’t ignore what was happening. But there was no fear attached to it. Fear rose up, but the Word kicked it out. It wasn’t instant. There was a process. But it was a process of trust in the Lord. He directed us. He guided us. He counselled us. He corrected us. Through His guidance, it was a blip. Like any other year. No depression. No trauma. No loss. No ‘I wish that’. It was easy and simple because He had us focused on Him, drew us always back to Him, and kept us standing on Him. He didn’t change in all that. He wasn’t shaken. Since He wasn’t shaking, we weren’t shaking. I read the experiences of other people and I have to ask the Lord to explain their attitudes and experiences and emotions to me because I don’t get it. Their experience is totally foreign to me. Is it because of me? Oh no. Is it a feather in my cap or a pat on my back? Oh no, no, no. It was the Lord 100%. He did it all.

The conclusion is easy. It is a question. Why is this not my life all the time? Why is this not the life of all believers all the time? And if it comes right down to it, why were there any blips at all during that time? Why wasn’t it instant? Why wasn’t it automatic? Why isn’t it always automatic? Because we are human. We are creatures of habit and creatures of trust. Habit and trust. Habit is flesh, trust is spirit. Our minds, personalities, and emotions sit in the middle. The edge of that coin. Which way that coin falls in any and every circumstance is NOT chance, fate, or karma. It isn’t the leading of the universe, it isn’t manifestation of our desire, and it isn’t a stack of coins in the bank. It falls one way or another because of focus. Focus is the force that acts on that coin to produce a result on one side or the other. It is also the means by which we can at any time flip that coin.

“You shall seek me and find me, when you search for me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). “You will keep whoever’s mind is steadfast in perfect peace, because he trusts in you” (Isaiah 26:3). “He will not be afraid of evil news. His heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD” (Psalm 112:7). “Because he has set his love on me, therefore I will deliver him. I will set him on high, because he has known my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him, and honour him. I will satisfy him with long life, and show him my salvation” (Psalm 91:14-16). Focus on the Lord has distinct benefits. There is perfect peace, deliverance, honour, salvation, long life, and answers when we call. That sounds pretty good to me. We get all that by focusing on the Lord. Seeking Him with all our heart. Setting our love on Him. Knowing His name in a real person to person relationship. Is it because the Lord is demanding? An egotist? No. We worship Him because He deserves our worship (Psalm 8). This is all about us, and not about Him.

Humans are movers. We rarely stay in one place for any length of time. We spread out, we’re unfocused, we see shiny things and run over there to check them out. If you think I’m exaggerating, go visit any preschool and watch them for a few hours. If it wasn’t for the dedication and incredible efforts of the adults, nothing would get accomplished and the place would be destroyed in under two hours. A human being is a little tornado of chaotic impulse and energy. We were created to have dominion, to subdue the entire earth, and to work for the Lord (Genesis 1:28). We threw that away, and so these core impulses have no guided outlet. We have a driving NEED to work, but no idea what to do — so we make up our own work. We are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). What is one of the first things we are told about God in Genesis 1:1? “God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.” God is a God of movement, so we are beings of movement. The problem is that we were created to focus on the Lord and we lost that when we rebelled against Him. That’s freedom of choice. Freewill. We have to choose to focus. Repeatedly. If not, we wander off. We wander out of His yard. We step out from where He can bless us.

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted amongst the nations. I will be exalted in the earth” (Psalm 46:10). “If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth” (Colossians 3:1-2). “Brothers, I don’t regard myself as yet having taken hold, but one thing I do: forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, think this way. If in anything you think otherwise, God will also reveal that to you” (Philippians 3:13-15). We move, but we need to train ourselves to stay. To be still. It doesn’t come naturally to us. But we can do it. We do it in school to varying degrees of success. It’s important though.

Isn’t it interesting that as we get closer and closer to the end of things — whether that’s within this century or a millennia from now — we are seeing more and more people being diagnosed with attention deficit disorders? That at a time where FOCUS is extremely important, there is an attack on it? I’m not saying all mental conditions are just attacks of the enemy. But it is interesting that it is more and more common, isn’t it? God of course can work with all of us no matter where we find ourselves or what we are dealing with. Our particular conditions, habits, circumstances, and situations are no impediment to Him. He meets us where we are and works with us. He loves us all, knows us all, and blesses us all. For example, we often see the stereotype that those with ADHD are unable to pay attention to anything and are just bouncing around aimlessly. But anyone with ADHD is capable of a laser focus that escapes the rest of us many, many times. We see it as a handicap, but they are often incredibly accomplished individuals — they just don’t follow the traditional model to accomplish it.

Luckily, spiritual focus is a matter of the spirit and not of the flesh. None of us need to worry about being unable to do it. Yahweh God is an infinite being and as such has infinite ways to meet us, work with us, and accomplish His ends. But we are required to focus on Him in our way and as He leads us. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). It is Jesus in us that accomplishes any and everything that is worth anything. “I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). You struggle with focus? Jesus in you can focus. You struggle with reading? Jesus in you can speak words to you. You struggle with sitting still? Jesus in you can interact with you no matter what you are doing. It isn’t about sitting motionless in a pew with a hyper-focus on a speaker. It is about turning our thoughts to Jesus all the time. In every way we can. That is going to look differently for all of us because we all have a different mental landscape. The Lord does NOT leave us hanging. If we seek to meet Him, He will meet us.

“For I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them again to this land. I will build them, and not pull them down. I will plant them, and not pluck them up. I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God; for they will return to me with their whole heart” (Jeremiah 24:6-7). “I sought the LORD, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked to him, and were radiant. Their faces shall never be covered with shame” (Psalm 34:4-5). We are to focus on the Lord, but the Lord is also focusing on us. He sets His eyes on us. That’s an incredible promise. He will bring us to where He wants us. He will build us up. He will cultivate us and help us to grow. We will be answered by God. That’s right, if we seek Him He answers us. None of this maybe He will or maybe He won’t. An answer every time. That’s not a golden ticket to getting whatever we want. If we ask according to His Word we get what we ask for (1 John 5:14). And we don’t get when we ask for things for our own selfish pleasures and desires (James 4:3). That is the ONLY time the answer is no. When we ask according to His Will, His Word, and with the right motives, we will only ever get a yes (2 Corinthians 1:10). Sometimes the Yes is a Yes now, here you go. Sometimes the Yes is a Yes let’s get you grown into the place where you can handle it. With our Shepherd, we never want (Psalm 23).

The best way to maintain our focus, to retrain our minds to handle the revelations of the Lord, to align ourselves with His Will, and to make sure we are cultivating the right motives is to get into the Word. To read it. To listen to it. To consume it in any way we are able, in as large of a dose as we can handle, looking to it with intent to see Jesus revealed, and to think about it when we aren’t consuming it. To wonder about the wording, the point of the verse, mulling it over and asking the Holy Spirit about it. To keep spiritual eye contact with Yahweh God. The Word is the watchdog of our souls, the keeper of our health, and the guideposts along the path of our lives. The Word is more than a book. The Word is Jesus and Jesus is the Word (John 1:1-14). It keeps us from fear. It keeps us from folly. It keeps us from failure in the things of the Kingdom. But only when we are focused on it. When we are applying it. When we are using it to correct our steps, thoughts, words, and deeds. When we do? The Lord opens the heavens and we are right there standing in His yard where He can bless us abundantly with the things of the Kingdom. Spirit, soul, and body blessing (3 John 1:2 and Matthew 6:33).

“My son, let them not depart from your eyes. Keep sound wisdom and discretion, so they will be life to your soul, and grace for your neck. Then you shall walk in your way securely. Your foot won’t stumble. When you lie down, you will not be afraid. Yes, you will lie down, and your sleep will be sweet. Don’t be afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it comes; for the LORD will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being taken” (Proverbs 3:21-26). Believe it. Receive it. Know it. Walk in it. Focus on it. And be blessed upon blessing in the arms of Jesus.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Mark 10:21

Jesus looked at this young man and loved him. What a beautiful verse. Jesus looks at all of us in that same way. He looks on us and He loves us. He. Loves. Us. That’s incredible. He loved us from the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). He gave Himself for us (John 3:16). But He looks at us. Face to face. Seeing us. All of us. All of who we are. Hidden and revealed. Secret selves in our quietest parts. And He loves us. All that He asks in return is to put Him first. This verse isn’t anti-money. It isn’t anti-stuff. It is anti-stuff and money before God. I’m sure you’ve heard it said that if you can’t give up anything He asks you to, you don’t have it. It has you. Think about this as well. When things of God come up (going to church, reading the Word, praying, etc) do you do them, or do you have an excuse not to? When one of those things comes to mind, do you tamp it down with ‘not now’ or ‘I am busy’? When excuses rise up keeping you from the Lord and the things of the Lord, that is your red flag warning that something is very wrong. Nothing, but NOTHING should keep you from the Lord. If ANYTHING at ANY TIME keeps you from the Lord, it is a stumbling block to you. The Lord loves you. The Lord looks at you and loves you. Love Him back. Take the time to love Him. To talk to Him. To look back. It’s a good thing to do (Hebrews 12:2). And it always rewards. Always. Look on Him today. Put your gaze on Him and don’t take it off. Watch Him smile at you. Because He loves you. Catch His eye today.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.