Fear No Fear

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

Yahweh does deeds of justice and judgments for all who are oppressed,

Psalm 103:6

Anyone can have justice. All that is needed is to apply to THE Righteous Judge. Adonai laid it down in the Ten Commandments. Exodus 20:13 “You shall not murder.” Adonai was telling them that they did NOT have to take things into their own hands. He will protect them. He will defend them. If they would bring the situation to Him (1 Peter 5:7), He would deal with it in the most humane way for everyone involved. Problem is, as a species, we just won’t leave it alone. We don’t bring Him our situations. We cling to them, call them problems, and start blasting with both barrels until everything is lying down. We cause more ‘problems’ than we solve with that method and using it doesn’t get our needs met because we’re despising the one who gives solutions. Even when we start out right, we often forget the TIME factor. It is all so simple, but we like to make it complicated.

David wrote many psalms about how Adonai was going to deliver him. How Adonai was going to punish the wicked. How Adonai was going to make all the circumstances change. And He did. David’s trust was NOT misplaced. But some of those situations didn’t resolve right away. Some of them weren’t converted into memories for twenty years or more. But even twenty years can be a flash in the pan when your eyes are on the right thing. “For our momentary light affliction is producing in us an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure and proportion” (2 Corinthians 4:17). In the light of ETERNITY, ANYTHING that happens to us – NO MATTER HOW LONG – is all momentary. We have to see things from Adonai’s perspective. He once said He wasn’t completely mad at the Amorites (Genesis 15:16). It was over FOUR HUNDRED YEARS before it was full (Deuteronomy 20:17; Amos 2:9) – and there is no record of how long it took to get to that ‘not yet full’ in the first place. We do NOT always see time as He sees time.

So what is the ‘secret’? Don’t mix time with your trust in Adonai and DOUBLE don’t mix it with your thanksgiving. Our gratitude is based on the TRUSTWORTHINESS of Adonai, NOT in our SEEING action. An angel was once sent to save a city (2 Kings 19:35). No one saw the angel arrive. No one saw the angel strike down those men. No one saw the angel leave. They didn’t know when the angel was coming or that an angel WAS coming. It happened on Adonai’s timeline. Other than a promise of saving them (Isaiah 38: 2 Kings 20), the king had nothing to stand on. So they stood on the promise of Adonai. And Adonai delivered them. In His own way and time. If you are going to trust, TRUST. Don’t put a time limit on Adonai. Believe He can do it and stand on that. It is the way Abraham did it (Genesis 15). He waited decades for the fulfilment of it, but did NOT leave off (Genesis 21). He was SO ADAMANT about it (Romans 4:3), it helped him through a situation twenty years AFTER the fulfilment (Genesis 22; Hebrews 11:17-19). When we CHOOSE to believe Adonai in spite of what the situation is or the elements of it that we can see, we unlock the ability to be truly thankful about it.

Much like with believing, we need to NOT add time to our GRATITUDE. If Adonai says He is going to do something or we are going to get something, we ARE. It may LOOK like innocent people have been taken down. It may LOOK like judgment didn’t come to save them in time. But that is NOT ACCURATE. From OUR perspective that might be a fact, but the TRUTH is that the wicked reap a harvest from the seeds of their deeds. They may or may not get the fullness of it in this life, but there are always chains and pains attached to every ungodly thing they do (Psalm 32:10). And when they stand before the Righteous Judge, they will unfortunately receive the full harvest they worked so hard to plant and care for (Romans 2:5-6). Just because WE don’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not coming to pass.

Hold onto the promises of Adonai. Hold onto them and encourage each other in them – the ones for you and the ones for them. We need to build and strengthen and develop our thankfulness. The Word and encouraging each other in it and in the promises is how we do that. “Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for the one who promised is faithful. And let us think about how to stir one another up to love and good works, not abandoning our meeting together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging each other, and by so much more as you see the day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:23-25). There is NO TIME LIMIT ON THANKS. Don’t put one there. EVER. Just be grateful. Be thankful. Know that He is FAITHFUL. Know that He is MERCIFUL. Know that He shows us all GRACE. We know that, so we can thank Him for that.

Being oppressed sucks. There’s no way around that because our flesh doesn’t like to be oppressed or afflicted. But we can thank Adonai for His saving us. We can thank Adonai for redeeming the time between when it started and when it ends. We can thank Adonai for everything no matter what. We KNOW that He ONLY wants good for us. We KNOW it. It is part of His character. Part of who He is. He NEVER wanted bad for us at all. The first words ever spoken to a human being was The BLESSING. All those promises, all those fulfilments pointing to further/more fulfilment. Ruach HaKodesh can remind us of those. He can speak to us about the faithfulness of Adonai. He can speak to us about what Jesus enabled us to receive. He can help us frame the words of thanksgiving that show what is truly in our hearts. He won’t put a time stamp on it. He will simply state how FAITHFUL Adonai is and that we can TRUST Him to deliver. Believe it. Search the Word for AMPLE proof of it. Rejoice for it. Thank Him for it. It WILL come to pass. Adonai WILL do deeds of justice and Adonai WILL judge all who need judging. Amen.

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: 1 Kings 2:1

“The days of David came near for him to die, and he charged Solomon his son, saying,” David had some unfinished business. Maybe the situation hadn’t been politically expedient. Maybe David didn’t like the idea of how the people would see him. Maybe David had been afraid to. Who knows. But there were some people David wanted judged, and he wasn’t going to be able to do it. So he tasked it to his son (who did pretty well, I must say). We can be the same way with OUR unfinished business AND we don’t have to wait until we’re dying. We can simply put it all in Jesus’ hands. We can choose to give it up to someone else who will become responsible for it. It won’t even be OUR situation anymore, but HIS. We can do it in peace, because we KNOW He is faithful. We can do it and leave it, and thank Him for dealing with it in mercy and goodness. Don’t hold to these things and let them fester. Turn them over and let them be praise points. Not maliciously. Not an opportunity to get a dig in. But an honest and heartfelt thanking Adonai for taking your situations and turning them around. We don’t even need to SEE it come to pass. We can thank Him and pray for mercy for them and walk away. Unconnected. Not bitter. At peace and operating in love toward them should we see them again – because WE don’t have a problem with them anymore. It’s a Jesus thing now. Jesus is on the case. lean into how Ruach HaKodesh wants you to walk, talk, and act, and let the peace of the Lord take over. Isn’t that one of the great things about Jesus? He takes care of things for us. 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