Fear No Fear

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

Let them be disappointed who persecute me, but don’t let me be disappointed. Let them be dismayed, but don’t let me be dismayed. Bring on them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.
Jeremiah 17:18 (emphasis added)

Seems like a straight-forward verse. Good things on me, bad things on them. The whole chapter is about how happy is the man who trusts in God and how unhappy those who do not. The enemies coming against the people are full of malice, so don’t let them have us. And an observance of the sabbath, of rest in the Lord. A recharging of faith and belief in the only one who can rescue them from the world. Solid chapter. Good verses. Basic truth. But application of it is where things can get fuzzy.

You wouldn’t think that, until you start looking at language. The inherent subtext here is that the proclaimer of these words trusts in Yahweh God. Do a search for the phrase ‘Trust God’ and you’ll find 22-36 verses right away. That’s without iterations like ‘trust in the lord’, ‘He in whom I put my trust’, etc. Trusting in God isn’t seen as an option, but an innate part of what it is to be a created being. But do we do it?

So often we are not saying “He has put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God. Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD” (Psalm 40:3). Often, those around us can be surprised to discover we believe in God. That we go to church. We are in many ways stealth Christians. But that is not what we are called to be. “You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can’t be hidden. Neither do you light a lamp and put it under a measuring basket, but on a stand; and it shines to all who are in the house. Even so, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16). These were Jesus’ words and they were not a suggestion. They were instructions. Part of the Sermon on the Mount. In essence, the constitution of the Kingdom of God. But we often treat it like an information tract at the library.

The sad truth is that God (Father, Son, and Spirit) are Righteous. Pure. They do not speak to hear themselves talk. They are speaking to us for a reason. To instruct us. To get us to get to a place where they can bless us. To get us to get to a place where we are obedient. To get us to a place where the damage that we have done to ourselves can be repaired. Where we can be renewed into a new creature. Into a place where we can live, move, and thrive as we have our being (Acts 17:28). Outside of Jesus, we are nothing (John 15). To have anything, we need to remain in Jesus. To remain in Jesus, we have to trust Him.

“My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). If we trust that He meets our needs, we won’t give in to worry. ““Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me” (John 14:1). When we trust in Jesus, we’re choosing not to be troubled in our inner selves. ““For I, the LORD, don’t change; therefore you, sons of Jacob, are not consumed” (Malachi 3:6). In spite of our wanderings, in spite of our disobedience, and in spite of being beings who love to change and move and grow, God remains the same. He loves us, has loved us, will love us, and we can depend on that. If we trust God, we know He loves us. “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7). If we trust God, we won’t be anxious. Not because anxiety doesn’t try and poke its head up, but because our trust in God drowns it out.

Trust is the firm belief in the reliability of something or someone. If we do not trust the Lord, then nothing follows. Not one thing. We can’t even get saved without trust because the path of salvation is very, very simple: “that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). Paul goes on in verse 10 and 11 to quote Isaiah 28:16 and say “For with the heart one believes resulting in righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed.”“ Jesus Himself said “He who believes and is baptised will be saved; but he who disbelieves will be condemned” (Mark 16:16). Our belief in Yahweh God is the foundation of our faith and the mechanism by which we accept the salvation Jesus holds out to us.

So why are we coasting through life? Why is so much of our life going to church, bible study, or worship night but spending all the rest of the days doing our own thing? Why is it that we can go through a whole day of chores, shopping, parenting, and working without once looking to the Lord for guidance? Does that sound like trust? Contrast that with the finding of someone with whom you want a relationship. Don’t you call them, text them, and check in on them at almost every opportunity? Don’t you sometimes make up excuses to be able to contact them? Just to hear their voice? Just to see them? Be around them? And these are just people. Fellow humans. Replaceable with another one. There are after all eight (8) billion of us. With about sixteen (16) personality types and about five (5) major personality traits. Yes, there is a lot of dispute about those numbers, but you can see that we are not really as unique in broad strokes as we think we are. We can find someone similar in type to anyone we are attracted to. But God? Yahweh God? Three indivisible persons who are separate in one being who is One, inseparable and alone? That’s about as unique as you can get. Yet where are the check-ins? The being around Him?

“The LORD is near to all those who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He will fulfil the desire of those who fear him. He also will hear their cry, and will save them” (Psalm 145:18-19). If we revere the Lord, we will seek to be near Him. When we seek Him, we find Him (Matthew 7:7). Jesus isn’t hard to find. He’s promised that He will never leave you or forsake you. Ever (Hebrews 13:5). “Behold, I am with you, and will keep you, wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land. For I will not leave you until I have done that which I have spoken of to you”” (Genesis 28:15). That is someone you can trust. Especially when you know that He is incapable of lying (Numbers 23:19) and every promise He makes is fulfilled (Joshua 21:45). We read these verses and we strengthen our faith in His ability to be trustworthy. If He is trustworthy and we believe that, then we should act like it.

If you look at the statistics, almost one hundred percent of marriages that fail have failed because trust was broken. Sometimes in little ways, sometimes in big ways, but broken trust is almost always listed as one of the reasons the marriage dissolved. Marriages are supposed to be built on love (Love, not passion. Love is a decision). Trust is a big part of love. You cannot choose to love someone that you do not trust. Love is a decision to walk forward together. When you have trust, you have mutual respect. When you have trust, you have a desire to better each other. When you have trust, you are yoked together and help to keep the other afloat. If you have no trust, you have to rely on vulnerability which is simply the ability to be hurt. Who wants that? No one. That’s why marriages fail.

Our relationship with Jesus is akin to a marriage. It is a decision to walk together. To work together. To help each other. How can we help God? What about Psalm 28:7? “The LORD is my strength and my shield. My heart has trusted in him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart greatly rejoices. With my song I will thank him.” God is deserving of thanks and praise. We can give it to Him. We can minister to Him. We can offer to Him that which He deserves to get from us. That’s helping God. What about Jeremiah 29:11? “For I know the thoughts that I think towards you,” says the LORD, “thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future.” If God has plans and we let Him accomplish them, we are helping Him. We are using our free will to let Him do what He wants to do. That’s helping God. Remember, we have free will. We get to say what happens. Whether we let God work in us His way, His time, and His plan, or whether we don’t let Him work in us. Jesus said “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). We’re called to work WITH God.

Do we love Him? If we do, we’ll keep His commandments (John 14:15-31). All of them. Of course outside of Jesus we will fail. But if we abide in Him we can succeed. If we are focused on Jesus, then we aren’t paying attention to the world. Sometimes when I say things like that I think of all the things in the world that I enjoy. Shows, games, movies, food, reading, music, and all the other stuff I like to do. All the stuff I enjoy. And I get sad thinking of giving it up or not getting to do it. That is the WRONG attitude. Because God made this world and He declared it to be very good (Genesis 1:31). There are a lot of things that are good inside of it. And we are allowed to enjoy them. But if we are putting them before the Lord, then the doing of that activity is not good. I shouldn’t be sad about maybe not watching the latest programming. I should be joyful at the opportunity to worship God and spend time with Him. It is not wrong or a sin to watch TV. It is wrong and a sin to watch TV when the Lord is clearly calling you to something else. Why? Because listening to and obeying God is faith. Everything not faith is sin (Romans 14:23). How do you know which side of that line you are on? The Holy Spirit is there to tell you if you’ll ask Him. Don’t let anything get so big you’ll refuse to put it aside for a time if God asks you to.

Our lives should be worship to Him. In everything we do. Checking in with Him, asking His opinion, asking about technique to accomplish something, and every and anything else you would do if your trusted partner was beside you. If you were doing it with them instead of on your own. This is what a relationship is. This is what love is. This is us not being dismayed because we are putting our trust in Him. This is us not being disappointed because we are letting God inform us as to what our lives do and should have in them. This is us trusting and worshipping and fellowshipping and staying broken before the Lord God Almighty. It isn’t easy, but it is simple. If it was easy, Jesus would not have referred to it as taking up our cross (Matthew 16:24-26). He wouldn’t have told us to do it on a daily basis. And He wouldn’t have spent the fifteenth chapter of John drumming it into us that we need to remain in Him and Him in us to produce anything worth producing.

If you want to leave dismay and disappointment behind, if you want to see your enemies defeated — your true spiritual enemies, not the people around you — then you need to get into the Word and get the Word into you. It is the framework for our lives. It is the answer you seek. It is the all in all that transforms us spiritually, which transforms us mentally, which transforms us physically. Put your trust in the Lord in everything else the way that you put it in Him about salvation. Trust in the Lord. You will NOT be disappointed.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Psalm 62

God loves us so much He is fair. He rewards everyone according to what they do. He doesn’t hold against us what is in our hearts because He loves us. That doesn’t mean it isn’t important, because what is in our hearts informs what we do. We are examined at the heart level and found wanting or found faithful. But He rewards us according to what we do. Our hearts inform our words. Every word is a seed. Every seed produces a crop. Every crop is measured. The good is a blessing and an offering of love to Yahweh God. The bad is burnt up with chaff and we are left with nothing. No illusions. No better luck next time. Nothing. Who would want to stand before a God of such loving-kindness and such fairness with nothing but ashes. God wants us to succeed. God wants to reward us. That’s love. Wanting us to earn the reward He promised, and then giving His son so that we can in fact receive a reward. Not through our efforts, but by Grace through Faith. That is true love. And God’s toward you is never-ending.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.