Fear No Fear

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

Therefore don’t be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day’s own evil is sufficient.
Matthew 6:34 (emphasis added)

Seatbelts. When we get into a vehicle we use seatbelts. Especially when we put our children in. We strap them in and make sure everything is secure. We wouldn’t dream of heading out without them. But once they’re on, we don’t think about it anymore. We assume that they and we will be fine. We TRUST those seatbelts. Do you feel anxious? Do you have fear? Do you struggle with these things? Ask yourself where your trust is. Trust brings feelings of confidence. Trust brings comfort. Trust brings peace. Trust is very confident, guaranteed certainty, and total reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something. One of the biggest weapons we have against fear and all its babies is trust.

In the midst of the drought, Elijah was told to do something. “Then the LORD’s word came to him, saying, “Go away from here, turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, that is before the Jordan. You shall drink from the brook. I have commanded the ravens to feed you there”” (1 Kings 17:2-4). Ravens are social animals. They have been observed to be playful and will travel a long way to find food. But they also have a reputation for being selfish. It hasn’t been observed in their behaviour, however. Bird watchers report them as being empathetic to one another. They’re a tame bird and don’t shy away from people. It seems like they would be good companions. But to rely on them for bringing food? When this is behaviour that is NOT seen in the wild? That takes trust.

You know what takes more trust? Staying put. On the one hand, Elijah had a great reason to stay put. He had issued a priestly command and there was drought in the land. God was honouring his words. The king (Ahab, that really, really, really evil king with the just-as-if-not-moreso wife Jezebel) would not be happy with Elijah. Hiding out would then be a good thing. But he is staying in a recess of the Gilead uplands. Cherith was a torrent-bed or winter stream in Palestine. The source would be in the hills, running down past vegetation in something like a gorge or canyon, and then crossing the plain and connecting with the Jordan. It wasn’t a raging river, but a stream. And one that was only flowing in the winter months, drying up in the hotter summers. A rocky place. Some vegetation. Not a bad hideout, but not somewhere you would want to stay. Water, but no food.

But Elijah had been told by Yahweh God that He would provide for Elijah. That ravens had been commanded to feed him twice a day with bread and meat. They came in the morning and the evening. Actually, it is implied God told them to bring Elijah bread and meat because that is what they brought. Going in Elijah only knew they would bring food. And only if he went there. Had Elijah gone anywhere else, there might have been water but there would have been no food. Makes you wonder if there would have been a slowly growing pile of bread and meat in Cherith had he not gone. Thing is, Elijah had a lot of opportunity for fear. For depression. For anxiety. But he chose instead to trust. That’s important. Because the water ran out.

It was a drought. Throughout the whole land. And the water ran out. Elijah didn’t. Verse seven says “After a while, the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.” There is no mention of Elijah leaving or panicking. He would have been watching the water get less and less every day. Regular raven service, but they weren’t bringing cups and flasks. Just the food. And then it ran out. And there he stayed. He trusted the Lord. He trusted, and so he didn’t panic. He trusted, so he didn’t get anxious. He trusted, and so he had no fear.
The trust was rewarded when he was given instructions. Verse 9: “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to sustain you.” No problem, right? Except for a couple of small things. First, Sidon was approximately a hundred and sixty kilometres (or a hundred miles) from where he was. Through the country of the king who didn’t like him. Second, Sidon was a seaport on the Mediterranean. They were Phoenicians and influential in the region. It was also the hometown birthplace of Jezebel. The wife of the king who didn’t like him who herself didn’t like him. Not only that, Jezebel was feverish in her desire to wipe out worship of Yahweh and supplant it with worship of her patron deity Baal. So this wouldn’t be a town at the top of his list of vacation spots. And third, Elijah hadn’t been told WHICH widow in this town that would help him. Stands to reason there would be more than one. None of which would be worshippers of Yahweh, so he wasn’t going to meet them at synagogue. Baal worship was deeply entrenched in Sidon.

Elijah went. There is no record of him humming and hawing. There is no evidence he argued and moaned. Or waited. He packed up, grabbed a crust of bread for the road, and travelled a hundred and sixty kilometres in a drought, through the territory of his enemies on foot, to the birthplace of a woman who hated him, to find a widow who had been told by the God she probably didn’t believe in to help him. This was a perfect opportunity for anxiety and fear. Elijah showed only trust.

He gets to the town and hey! There’s a widow gathering sticks. AND she’s willing to bring him some water (pretty good in a drought). But when he mentions bread, she balks. Now, there’s no evidence she was being stubborn. No evidence she was kicking against the grain. But it WAS a drought. And there would have been a LOT of people who were looking for food. And we have no record of what God told her, how He told her, or what she was looking for. But she says as YOUR God lives (verse 12) as an oath of her honesty, so she knew who Yahweh was. And her honesty was that she had just enough to feed herself and her son one last time. That was it. She was staring death in the face. But Elijah was armed with the word of the Lord. Verse 13-14: “Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go and do as you have said; but make me a little cake from it first, and bring it out to me, and afterward make some for you and for your son. For the LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘The jar of meal will not run out, and the jar of oil will not fail, until the day that the LORD sends rain on the earth.’””

That is what she did. She trusted that word and made him bread. Then made herself and her son bread. And that is what they did for up to three years (Luke 4:25 and James 5:17). What’s more, Elijah left her and went back into Israel to confront Ahab and end the drought but she still got food. Verse 16: “The jar of meal didn’t run out and the jar of oil didn’t fail, according to the LORD’s word, which he spoke by Elijah.” She had food until the rain came, not as long as Elijah was there. She trusted. Elijah trusted. And they were provided for. She would have had the opportunity to be anxious and fearful after Elijah left. But she had the word of the Lord. And she trusted. And it was solid. It happened. Until the rains came and food was flowing again, she had food. Granted, like in Cherith there wasn’t a variety of food. But when the world is starving, any food is wonderful food. Savoured. Enjoyed. They trusted and were rewarded.

What did Jesus say to us again? “Therefore don’t be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself” (Matthew 6:34). Don’t worry. Trust. Another way to put that is trust and you won’t be anxious. Trust is the key. Trust changes perspective. It isn’t reliant on what you see around you. It isn’t reliant on logic. It isn’t reliant on facts. It is based on something deeper. It’s based on character, strength, truth, and the ability of the thing being trusted to produce. Because of its character, strength, and level of truth. God has depthless character. Endless and abundant strength. And God IS Truth. We can trust in Him. We should trust in Him. We are, in fact, commanded to trust in Him.

Trusting in the Lord is a wise thing to do. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Don’t be wise in your own eyes. Fear the LORD, and depart from evil. It will be health to your body, and nourishment to your bones” (Proverbs 3:5-8). Reverence of the Lord brings many things to us. Including health and nourishment. Because we prosper in the natural as we prosper in the spirit (3 John 1:2). Trust in the Lord provides us with guidance. A path forward. A way out. And not one where we can’t see the end, but a straight path that clearly goes from where we are to where Jesus has overcome (John 16:33). No matter where the path leads, what is on it, what is around it, or what overshadows it, in the end we get to stand with Jesus in the victory that He won. “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 3:25-26). That last can also be translated as “the Lord will be at your side and will keep your foot from being taken.” When we lean on Him (Psalm 37:3-7), we will not stumble. He has a strong arm and broad shoulders. He will NOT fail.

Trusting in the Lord is the only source of confidence that lasts in this world. “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose confidence is in the LORD. For he will be as a tree planted by the waters, who spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes, but its leaf will be green, and will not be concerned in the year of drought. It won’t cease from yielding fruit” (Jeremiah 17:7-8). Like Elijah, the widow, and her son, it is a confidence that won’t be affected by drought. It won’t matter the heat that is around you. Or the pressure. Or the chaos. The systems of this world (natural and man-made) will fail because they are not perfect systems. They can be balanced, worked out, functional, brilliant, and cyclical, but they can all fail. They can topple. They can go wonky one way and eventually adjust, but have really bad things happening in the meantime. Jesus slept in a boat in the middle of a storm that was going to sink the boat and panicked a group of extremely experienced fishermen (Matthew 8:23-27). But Jesus had trust in the Father. Trust brought confidence, which enabled peace. Anxiety and fear were far from Him.

Trusting in the Lord is an antidote for fear. “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. In God, I praise his word. In God, I put my trust. I will not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?” (Psalm 56:3-4). It is an active action we can take. It is something we can slap down on the table when anxiety or fear or depression come calling. It is the NO to the world’s YES. The world says grocery prices are skyrocketing, you say NO I will trust the Lord not worry about that. The world says the banks are failing or recession is collapsing our systems, you say NO I will trust the Lord not worry about that. The world says you are denying reality, living with your head in the sand, you’re crazy and you shout NO, I will trust the Lord. I will not deny what is around me, but I will trust in the Lord and do what HE says not what YOU say. God can tell you when to stock up on groceries, when to buy gas, when to buy gold, when to sell stocks, when to plant seed. God can help you in every way. And don’t forget that God can take a little and make it stretch (not only the widow’s flour and oil but also bread and fish – Matthew 14:15-21). God can use birds if He wants to. The age of miracles has not ended. There is no end to the wonders and miracles of the Lord Most High. It is OUR faith and OUR trust that fades. But if we trust in Him and partner with Him? Nothing is impossible when God says that it is so (Luke 1:37).

What does God say to us? To His children (1 John 3:1)? The ones He provides for (Matthew 7:11)? “But now the LORD who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel, says: “Don’t be afraid, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burnt, and flame will not scorch you” (Isaiah 43:1-2). We are the redeemed of the Lord. We are precious children of Yahweh God Most High. We are in Jesus and He is in us. If that isn’t the basis for a solid, unshakeable trust, I don’t know anything that could be.

When fear comes knocking, when depression descends, when anxiety rises, slap your hand down on it and declare your trust. NO. I WILL trust in the Lord. I will trust in the Lord. I will trust in the Lord. Read Isaiah 43:1-2 again and again. Out loud if you need to. Get it into your spirit and let the Holy Spirit explode it throughout your body and soul. You CAN trust in the Lord. We are His.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Psalm 121:1-3

As children there was always someone you could go to for help — or at least there should have been. That parent that you could snuggle in the middle of the night. A person who would come when you cried out. Comfort. Something to grab onto and hold as the things around you shook, cackled, or tried to eat your toes. As a parent you stand there. Exhausted. Struggling to maintain consciousness. Stroking a head. Hugging a crying body. Telling them you were there. You were watching out. That you would stand in the way and do everything you could. That if it wasn’t okay now, it would be okay because together you could get through it. It might have a scar, but it wouldn’t bleed anymore. It is two sides of a coin of trust. An agreement between parent and child that no matter how foolish things seem to one of you, no matter how baseless and ridiculous, you’ll both take it seriously. You’ll both confront it. And the smaller will be protected by the larger. It is a comfort cocoon. The Lord is our Father. Our parent. Our larger. The weaver of our peace. The weaver of our comfort. The weaver of our security. We have the promise that if we rest in and on Him, everything will be okay. The blood will stop flowing. The pain will fade. The failures and terrors and problems will disappear. They will be replaced by victory, love, and solutions. Not human answers. God victorious. God triumphs. We get to sit in His lap, holding Him in a steel grip, and He does what He does best: take care of us. We can trust Him because He is trustworthy. We can have peace because He is Peace. We can love because He loves us. It doesn’t matter how it plays out in the natural, in the spiritual we can be calm, confident, and secure in Him. We will smile and have joy because He is our strength. We can laugh and breathe easy because He is our Sustainer. For those who love Him, are obedient and trust Him, there is never lack. Only lack of seeing what He sees. Of taking what He offers. Don’t sell your trust short. Trust Him with ALL your heart. ALL your mind. ALL your being. He has it ALL. Let Him shepherd it and you. His love will never fail, never stop, and never let you down. He loves you. Trust Him.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.