Fear No Fear

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

Terror and dread falls on them. By the greatness of your arm they are as still as a stone, until your people pass over, LORD, until the people you have purchased pass over. You will bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance, the place, LORD, which you have made for yourself to dwell in: the sanctuary, Lord, which your hands have established.
Exodus 15:16-17 (emphasis added)

We get so worried about what is stacked up against us. It doesn’t matter if it is a person like a boss, co-worker, or troublemaker in our neighbourhood. It doesn’t matter if it is a government agency like immigration, or child services, or taxation. It doesn’t matter if it is a landlord. It doesn’t matter if it is a bill. It doesn’t matter if it is an empty fridge or gas tank. It doesn’t matter if it is a forecasted shortage of something or a financial downturn of the nation. We put so much energy into worry, stress, anxiety, and depression. We cultivate them. We ruminate on them. We spend time with them instead of with sleep. They eat away at us. At our mental health, at our physical health, and at the fabric of our rest. But these things do not worry or concern or take by surprise the Lord God Almighty.

Well, yeah, you say. He’s God. Of course He isn’t worried or concerned or surprised. But I am not God. No, we are not God. We do have access to the things of God. We have access to His confidence. We have access to His plans. We have access to His security. We have access to His knowledge. We have access to His peace. It is in Jesus, through Jesus, by Jesus, and for Jesus that we have all things. We have a better covenant than Moses and the Israelites had. A better one. But we are doing exactly what they did.

Our verses today are part of a song that Moses and the Israelites sang. A song of what had happened to them, what was happening to them, and what was going to happen to them in the near future. It was sung immediately after they had crossed through the Red Sea on dry ground and then witnessed the destruction of Pharaoh and his army when the waters came back. They immediately broke out into song. In that song they looked forward to what was about to happen. They prophetically sang into what was going on at that moment in the land of Canaan: “The peoples have heard. They tremble. Pangs have taken hold of the inhabitants of Philistia. Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed. Trembling takes hold of the mighty men of Moab. All the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away. Terror and dread falls on them. By the greatness of your arm they are as still as a stone, until your people pass over, LORD, until the people you have purchased pass over. You will bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance, the place, LORD, which you have made for yourself to dwell in: the sanctuary, Lord, which your hands have established. The LORD will reign forever and ever”” (Exodus 15:14-18).

This is huge, right? They’re assuring themselves that the Lord has it all in hand. That the Lord has the people they are going to be coming against well in hand. That they are victorious. That they are triumphant. That nothing will stop them. The next thing they do is complain. They bemoan their circumstances. They basically deny everything that they were just proclaiming. “Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. When they came to Marah, they couldn’t drink from the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore its name was called Marah. The people murmured against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”” (Exodus 15:22-24). Three days. Their victory in the Lord lasted three days. When they got to the land they had been promised they did the same. They gave up their victory. Ten of the twelve men who checked out the land said woe to us we can’t do it. The people agreed with them, and they didn’t. The people that they had declared to be melted away, held in place by the hand of the Lord until the Lord decided to deliver victory, these very same people scared them so bad it poisoned their whole generation’s thinking.

We are doing the same thing today. We have our worries and concerns and issues because we are living in this fallen world (Romans 5:12). But who has the last word on these things? “The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the motives. Commit your deeds to the LORD, and your plans shall succeed. The LORD has made everything for its own end— yes, even the wicked for the day of evil. Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; they shall certainly not be unpunished. By mercy and truth iniquity is atoned for. By the fear of the LORD men depart from evil. When a man’s ways please the LORD, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. Better is a little with righteousness, than great revenues with injustice. A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD directs his steps” (Proverbs 16:1-9). We get so full of what is in our eyes, we forget whose plans and whose paths we tread. Or are supposed to tread.

The Israelites saw a mighty, impossible, cannot explain it away miracle. In three days they were doubting the ability of the Lord to provide for them. We have moments that we meet with God. Church services, bible studies, personal moments of prayer, healing lines, conventions, messages streamed online, and music or sermons that we listen to as we go about our day. Any of them can be a point of contact with Yahweh God Almighty. We’ll have an experience. We’ll have a feeling of elation. Of being close to Him. Of seeing Him move. We may even experience a miracle that cannot be explained away in any other way. But like the Israelites, how long is it until we are doubting? How long is it before we are giving into fear? How long is it before we are looking to the Lord and demanding, ‘But what have you done for me lately?’

This isn’t an Old Testament issue or a today issue. This is an all the time humanity issue. The disciples had been sent out on a signs and wonders preaching tour (Matthew 10:5-42 and Mark 6:7-11). When they returned, Jesus took them aside to a wilderness place so that they could rest and talk with Him about everything that had happened. But the crowds followed Jesus. He had compassion on them and He healed them (Luke 9:10-11). Things ran late, the Passover was upon them, and the people needed to eat. Instead of dispersing them into the nearby towns, Jesus blessed five loaves and two fish. He gave that food to His disciples and they themselves gave the food to the crowds (John 6:10-15). At this point the disciples had healed people, cast demons out of them, and participated in feeding five thousand men plus the women and children who were with them with twelve baskets of food left over—proper baskets too, not baby-sized ones. This is the power of the Lord demonstrated again and again, right?

Then we hit a prophetic illustration. Jesus and the disciples act out what was going to happen in just a short time. Jesus sends out His disciples, empowering them by commission to go across the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum where Jesus’ house was. Jesus wasn’t with them. He was on a mountain praying to His Father. After Christ was resurrected to life He commissioned all the disciples (and by extension ourselves) to go into the world and make disciples of all humanity. He then ascended into heaven where He is our mediator, praying for all the saints and interceding for us with the Father (1 Timothy 2:5, Romans 8:34, 1 John 2:1, and Hebrews 7:25). That night on the lake, all the parties were acting out what would be their (and our) position later in life.

A storm came up and upon them. It was quite common in that part of the Sea. It had happened before and Jesus had miraculously calmed the storm (Matthew 8:23-27). They knew what was possible—God could calm storms. They had a divine commission to do something—cross the lake. And they knew through their own very recent experiences that they were empowered to be used by the Lord God to demonstrate His power. The Father could work through them like the Father worked through Jesus. They had seen and experienced that if you were obedient, that if you were focused on the Lord, and if you were doing His will, He can and will move mightily through you. But they didn’t focus on any of that. They focused on their circumstances. They focused on their human abilities—many of them were fishermen and skilled sailors. They focused on what they knew, what they saw, and what they thought or assumed was going to happen. They floundered.

How often does this happen to us? We forget about what God can do. We forget about how He has used us. We forget about the victories we have witnessed and been a part of. But as we flounder, Jesus sees us. In Mark 6:48-50 Jesus saw them and responded: “Seeing them distressed in rowing, for the wind was contrary to them, about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea; and he would have passed by them, but they, when they saw him walking on the sea, supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out; for they all saw him and were troubled. But he immediately spoke with them and said to them, “Cheer up! It is I! Don’t be afraid.””

Jesus sees us and comes to us. In fact, we are told throughout scripture that He never leaves us or forsakes us (Deuteronomy 31:6-8). Jesus is with the Father interceding for us all the time, but He has His eye on us. He is watching us. He is seeing our struggles and our giving in to worries and He is saying to us “I AM!” He is giving us encouragement not to fear. You notice in the gospel accounts of Jesus walking on the water that He didn’t shout at them. He spoke. He was close enough to speak to them—but He waited until they engaged Him. He waited but He responded IMMEDIATELY when they called. Peter leapt out of the boat and walked for a bit until he lost his focus on Jesus, but Jesus didn’t leap for him. Jesus didn’t run over. Jesus reached out. He was close enough in Peter’s trial to reach out and touch him IMMEDIATELY when Peter called. I wonder how far away Jesus seemed to Peter at that time. Jesus was right there, but Peter’s attention was on other things. How often are we looking at other things and not looking at how close Jesus actually is?

We have a better covenant. We have a greater position that we operate from than anyone in the bible from Genesis to Acts—except Jesus. From Acts to Revelation to now and to tomorrow we have a better covenant. We have a fulfilled covenant. We have the Holy Spirit indwelling us. We are restored in our spirits to where humanity began in the Garden. Not only is the Lord holding our enemies still. Not only is the Lord making His presence known to them, filling them with terror and dread. Not only do we have the Holy Spirit within us declaring to us the great and mighty works of the Lord. But in Jesus, Through Jesus, By Jesus and For Jesus we are empowered to walk in total, complete, and absolute victory.

What about the persecutions that Jesus promised? There is a difference between persecution and troubles. We have victory over all troubles. We are empowered to prosper, grow, have dominion, take and use His authority, and be blessed in all that we do or put our hand to within the will of the Father as revealed by the Word. The world HATES that. The world despises where we walk and that we are able to walk there. For the fact that we follow Jesus they will come against us. Not causing us problems, not trying to put lack and defeat on us, not the enemy tempting us and trying to knock us off our perch. No. I’m talking about taking us to war over the fact we follow Jesus and making us choose between suffering and our Lord. That is persecution because of Jesus’ name. We aren’t promised delivery from it because we have a better promise about persecution because of Jesus: “He who overcomes, I will give to him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne” (Revelation 3:21). Jesus was crucified and died in obedience to the Father. We should be willing to do the same.

But we’re not called to be paupers and strugglers. We’re called to be the head and not the tail (Deuteronomy 28:12). We’re called to walk in our redemption from the curse of the Law (Galatians 3:13). That means we don’t have to put up with lack, sickness, or anything else listed in the curse including face judgment for the sin that was wiped away when we believed in Jesus and accepted Him as Lord. We get to walk in perfect peace. We get to be corrected by the Holy Spirit. We get to repent and move into better things, sanctified day by day as we carry our cross in Jesus’ footsteps. We are being brought in and planted in the mountain of the Lord’s inheritance. Our bodies, temples of the Holy Spirit, purified and set aside for His glory (1 Corinthians 6:19). Don’t let yourself forget who you are in Jesus. Don’t let yourself forget what the Father can do in, through, and for us. Don’t forget who you abide in. Don’t forget to put the Word before your eyes every day, meditating on the Lord and letting Him renew you into who you are in Jesus. Remember that you have a better covenant and kick fear to the curb along with all its babies. Reject them and rejoice in Jesus.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Matthew 14:30-31

Peter was an odd duck. I heard it said in a play once that no one helped the Lord more than Peter and no one hindered the Lord more than Peter. I think Peter walking on the water is a great example of this. First, Peter asks Jesus to admit that Jesus is actually Jesus by calling Peter onto the water. It’s like trying to hold the Lord hostage. If Jesus said No, you don’t have the faith for this then He would be admitting He was not Himself. If Jesus said Yes, come on out He is permitting Peter to put himself into harm’s way. But Jesus wasn’t over the barrel that I see in that. The Holy Spirit revealed all things to Jesus just as He can to us. Jesus knew what was going to happen. He knew that He would be there. Peter didn’t. Peter just leapt out and walked to Jesus. It couldn’t have been far because Jesus was speaking to them through the storm and they could hear Him. But any distance at all is HUGE when you’re doing the impossible. Whether it was two feet or two miles, it would have seemed the same. What I love about this circumstance is that when Peter focused on the storm, he lost faith. As if the storm was the reason walking on the water was impossible. Like if it had been a clear, spring day with calm water it wouldn’t have been a problem. I think he’d have been in the same jam if he’d looked down and seen all the fish staring up at him. But Jesus had him. Peter couldn’t see it and didn’t feel it. He was dying, drowning, sinking, in worse shape than when he was in the boat, if only he’d stayed in that boat! But Jesus was right there. He wasn’t mad. He wasn’t disappointed. He was smiling. Calmly reached out and saved Peter. Even teased Him a little. Hey, Little Faith, why’d you doubt? Hey Mr Call Me Onto The Water why’d you stop being confident in who I was? Because that was the whole deal! Peter said IF IT IS YOU (verse 28). Peter declared that if it was in fact Jesus, then Peter would be able to share in what Jesus had—the divine granted from the Father ability to walk on the water. But Peter doubted it was Jesus. It can’t be Him. Look at these waves. This is crazy. God would never ask this. I can’t do this. I’m sinking. It’s not Him. It’s not Him. It’s not Him. And in the end the desperate call for help. Jesus, like a parent watching their child walk for the first time, is indulgent, protective, ever-watchful, and ready to assist when danger rears up. That is love. Safe, saved, and corrected. The funny thing? In Mark, the gospel Peter narrated, the Peter on the water thing isn’t mentioned. That wasn’t the important message of the day for Peter. He threw the light on where it always should be: “He got into the boat with them; and the wind ceased, and they were very amazed amongst themselves, and marvelled; for they hadn’t understood about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened” (Mark 6:51-52). The disciples forgot that the Lord had empowered them and commissioned them. They forgot that the Lord can do mighty, impossible things through them when they were obedient and listening to Him. They forgot that the love of the Father toward His children is proactive, not subjective. No matter where we are, He has the solution and the eternal victory if we’ll submit to Him and be obedient. Perfect love giving us perfect confidence.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.