Fear No Fear

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

I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD. Be strong, and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for the LORD.
Psalm 27:13-14 (emphasis added)

Our muscles get tired. Ever had to stand for a long time? Legs get tired. Hold something up? Arms get tired. We get tired. In spite of that, we can keep going. Many human accomplishments that we celebrate came about because in spite of being tired, or weary, or injured, or what have you, we kept going and achieved the goal. Human tenacity. The ability to keep going. In spite of what the world is telling us. In spite of what our flesh is telling us. It is a key component of our make-up.

Our beliefs really determine what we do with this ability. What we truly feel about ourselves informs what we do with this tenacity. It can be a positive thing. Driving us toward success in many endeavours. It can also be a negative thing and allow us to do the opposite. When it comes to the fundamental things that drive us, we are very much like babies. We are impulse driven. In many ways we are automatic responders. Have you ever put your finger into the palm of a baby? They will grab it. Might not let it go, either. If that thing is courage, invention, discovery, then that isn’t a bad thing. What if it is anxiety? Depression? Fear? Then it can destroy your life. We’re warned against it in 1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

The devil wants to kill everyone all the time. It’s been that way since the beginning. He was thrilled when Adam chose to rebel. It meant that Adam would have to die. That God would have to kill His beloved creation (Genesis 2:16-17). He’s been waiting and honestly confused about why we are still here. In the absence of God killing us, he tried his best. But God gave a promise in Genesis 3:15 which Jesus fulfilled. All the power and influence of the enemy was broken. He can’t do anything anymore unless he has permission. He’s back to square one. But he seeks to destroy us.

The world is broken and full of the curse – that’s natural circumstances, not the enemy. People are broken and fallen and selfish walking around with dead spirits – that’s selfish inclination, not the enemy. We have free will and can make all kinds of decisions which set off other decisions and then other people make their decisions and that is all free will cause and effect, not the enemy. That’s a lot that can go wrong and be wrong and be a struggle. And none of that is the enemy. What the enemy does is prowl around and through all of that. In Job he said he went through the earth, going to and fro. To and fro. Seeking to see who will close their hand over what he offers. Taking advantage of all the rest of the stuff. Taking the natural and adding to it to make sure that it does maximum damage, hurt, and horror.

I’ll grant that it sounds bad. It sounds like it’s all stacked against us. That he’s so powerful and terrible. But he isn’t. He’s broken, naked, lost, and alone. What can we do then? Peter continued. He didn’t say that the devil prowls and wins. He said the devil was an opportunistic attacker. Peter went on. “Withstand him steadfast in your faith, knowing that your brothers who are in the world are undergoing the same sufferings. But may the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen” (1 Peter 5:9-11). James agreed. He knew the devil was prowling out there and seeking anyone who put themselves where they shouldn’t.

“You adulterers and adulteresses, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who lives in us yearns jealously”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Be subject therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you” (James 4:4-10).

What do these statements have in common? Resist. Stand. Reliance on God, not ourselves. Lions aren’t fast runners. They rely on stalking their prey and prefer charging when the prey is facing away from them. They also use ambush behaviour – mainly in the day when stalking is more difficult. They’re most successful on dark nights in dense cover against a single animal. They knock them off balance or drag them down. Then they make the kill. Sound familiar? The Holy Spirit called the devil a prowling lion for a reason. He wanted us to have a word picture for how the enemy works. That we need to stand in Jesus’ light. We need to pay attention to our surroundings. That we need to be separate from the world. We need to be humble, broken, and submitted to the Lord. When we are submitted to the Lord, we are then empowered to stand against the devil. To resist him and watch him flee from us. All that added trouble he makes, gone. All the added torment and confusion, gone. The works of the enemy are like chaff before the Lord. We get to benefit from that when we are in Jesus. We get that benefit when we stand.
Our verse today starts by saying “I am still confident of this.” Still confident. That means that a lot has happened. That means some stuff has gone down. There have been some beatings taken. But the speaker is STILL CONFIDENT. They do not let the circumstances around them determine what their heart says. “Therefore we don’t faint, but though our outward person is decaying, yet our inward person is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is for the moment, works for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory, while we don’t look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). Reality isn’t as real as you think. It is full of facts, but facts are always subject to the truth. Facts change. Truth does not.

But reality is loud. Very, very loud. It is full of bright, shiny, flashing lights. Social media is one of the biggest flashing lights. It’s so easy to get caught up in these things. To go online to look at videos for a few minutes and come to yourself three hours later. Binge-watching shows and programs. Hanging out with friends. Even chores. Getting bogged down in chores and work and the sticky, gritty things that make up our day to day lives. It pulls us away from the Lord and His things. We should be pulling Jesus into all the sticky, gritty things so that they lose their stickyness. They smooth out. And the Lord is there in our day to day. When Jesus is in our day to day, they cease to be chores. They become instead a service of love. It doesn’t make them pleasant. But we can take pleasure in the Lord while we serve. It isn’t a magic button for an easy life. It is a process of growth into abundant life.

The goodness of God can invade our lives. It can be a reality in which we walk. It doesn’t have to be a pipe dream. The early church walked in it – and they experienced persecution, worldly issues, and even bureaucratic struggles. But the joy of the Lord ran through them. It flowed out of them. It affected their entire world. They truly changed the known world. Because they rested in Him. They waited on Him. They did what He said. Several times Paul was all hepped up about heading somewhere but the Spirit said no. So he didn’t go. Philip was going somewhere and an angel said go down to the desert road. So he went. They were led. They obeyed. What happened to the world? It saw the goodness of the Lord.

Today, we need to see the goodness of the Lord. Don’t mistake this, however. Seeing it is very different from loving it. The time is rapidly approaching when the world will KNOW that the Lord exists. Prophets – trusted ones – have been saying it. I believe it’s true. It does not mean the world will convert. It does not mean that they will start loving God. What they will do with the knowledge that God exists is unknown by us – but I can guess. The same thing we’ve been doing since the beginning: rebel. Without Jesus, that’s the only response the flesh has. Without Jesus, we are nothing. In Jesus? We are complete.

What does this have to do with not fearing? The reverse command of verse 14. “Let your heart take courage.” If your heart is taking courage then your heart is not taking fear. A baby’s hand cannot fit more than one adult finger at a time. If you are grasping courage, you’re not grasping fear. As we mature and grow, we maintain in our heart our baby innocence. No matter how old. No matter how mature. No matter how sophisticated. No matter what we do. Inside our hearts we are infants. We will remain infants. We will eternally be infants. It is the innocence and helpless dependence we need to truly rest in Jesus.

Ask yourself what is in my hand? What is your heart grasping? What is it holding onto with that grip that lets nothing go without a fight? That is our heart. We’re warned to watch what goes into it (Proverbs 4:23). We’re told to let God be the strength of our heart (Psalm 73:26). Even when we mess up, God is there and better than we can know and faithful (1 John 3:20). We’re to rest on Him, rely on Him, be guided by Him. To stand. To wait on the Lord. To be confident. YES. STILL confident. Because we know that we know that we know that God has it in hand. That He has a plan and if we’re obedient, we can be a part of it. Confident. We serve a faithful God. A merciful God. A giving God. A God of blessing. A correcting God. We can be confident in that. Confident.
Stand on that confidence. Stand on the Word. Let the Word build up your confidence. Let Jesus renew your thinking into the things of the Lord. Be confident. STILL confident. See His goodness. Praise His name. And be CONFIDENT in Him. Wait on the Lord. He came to bring us abundant life (John 10:10). Start enjoying it today.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Lamentations 3:25

Do you like being good to people who ignore you? Do you like being good to people who fight against you? Of course not. You may love them, but you don’t LIKE being good to them. Who do we like being good to? The ones who respect us. Who treat us nicely. God is no different. He loves us, period. But He ENJOYS doing good to those who wait for him. He ENJOYS those who seek Him. When our souls go looking for His TRUTH. We seek Him and He is easy to find. It isn’t a game to Him. He’s been waiting to be good to our spirits. Our souls. Our minds. Our bodies. Our finances. Our jobs. Our place in this world. He not only likes it when we seek Him, He enjoys when we allow Him to go places that we take Him. Using us to get His foot in the door. So others can seek Him. So He can be good to them. He is good to those who wait for him. Who seek Him. He doesn’t hide. He wants us whole. Today. Now. Seek Him and let Him be found by you. You are the only limitation God has because He will not go against your will. He is capable, but He refuses to be culpable. Let Him work in you and your life. Seek Him. He’s good and He is faithful. Seek Him and never stop.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.