Fear No Fear

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

“From now on I am telling you before it happens, in order that when it happens you may believe that I am he“

John 13:19

Jesus tells us what is coming before it comes. Adonai has ALWAYS done that. “Then Yahweh said, “Shall I conceal from Abraham what I am going to do?” (Genesis 18:17). “Surely my Lord does not do anything unless he has revealed his secret to his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). Adonai is a REVEALER, not a hider of information. The ONLY things He doesn’t tell us are the things we can’t handle, things we can’t comprehend in ANY way, and the things that will be a detriment to us. That’s it. He doesn’t tell us things that will become negatives for us. That encompasses a very small portion of what’s available to know. And I’m not talking about Adonai explaining His actions to us – He does NOT owe us an explanation for ANYTHING (Job 40:4). Adonai shares a LOT with us. He gives us peeks into the future happenings of our lives and this planet. One of the reasons He does this is so that His words become a HUGE confirmation to us about Him, His character, and the control He has over events. He isn’t being overwhelmed by what’s happening in the world. He knew about it LONG before it started and His plans cover ALL of it. He is NOT taken by surprise. He is NOT under siege. He is on the case.

We are not. We have NO CLUE. We look at the world and get anxious. We start debating and running our mouths with our opinions on everything from pipelines to food prices to sexuality to politics to whether or not birds should be culled when disease breaks out. We focus on all the angles and arguments. We consider facts, our empathy, our desires, and the confusing cross-purposes that inhabit almost all human interactions. At a MINIMUM, we’re double-minded about most issues and concerns. We acknowledge that fossil-fuel engines are harmful to the environment. So we want electric vehicles that don’t harm with emissions. But then we realise that the process by which the material that becomes the batteries are removed from the Earth in a way that is VERY damaging. Which is the right path then? That is classic human thinking. Both sides are considered. Both have points. What then do we do? What do we pick? Overall, we aren’t doing that well. Chaos reigns in so many ways – from OUR point of view. From OUR point of view, there are no solutions. There is no way out. It’s do what you can, protect what you can, and be prepared to fight to do so.

Adonai’s Way is completely different. Adonai know what will happen: His will. “For Yahweh of hosts has planned, and who will frustrate it? And his hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?” (Isaiah 14:27). Isaiah wrote this down during a time of great upheaval. Nations being consumed. Some people were saying they would never be taken. Others said they were all going to die. Adonai’s words were flying in the face of what the ‘people in the know’ were saying, no matter which side they were on. Isaiah declared: it’s going down how Adonai said it would go down. The same is true now. It is ALWAYS true. Adonai tells us what is going to happen and then it DOES happen. The players may change, but the purposes are never stopped. There is no way that we human beings can STOP Adonai. We can deny ourselves His best. We can refuse to take what He offers. He can fight and struggle and buck and deny, but we cannot stop. He knows what He knows and He does what he does. Period. He IS God.

Why would He bother to tell us anything, then? I mean, we don’t exactly explain everything to our kids, do we? Or to our employees? Friends? Yet again and again Adonai DOES tell us what’s happening. He DOES give us glimpses into the whys and wherefores. He does it so that we can have confidence in the trust that we have already put into Adonai because of His Word. He KNEW this was going to happen. He HAD something in place. Which means that no matter WHAT happens, we KNOW that Adonai KNOWS and has a plan IN PLACE. He CAN be trusted. Fully. Completely. Deeply. Whether WE have heard of the plan or not. Jesus told His disciples the whole deal. They didn’t understand Him, they misinterpreted Him, but they HAD the information. When it all went down and they were on the other side of the worst time of their lives, they saw it. They understood it. They wrote it down so that WE would know it. Jesus was in control. Jesus had a plan. It happened EXACTLY as Jesus said it would – in spite of some of it being physically and humanly impossible. Jesus words proved beyond a shadow of a doubt who He was. If it was true then, it is true today.

Who is Jesus? The One who KNOWS. The One in CONTROL. The One who will NOT be thwarted. The One who TELLS us. The One who can be TRUSTED. If you look back on all the things Jesus said about Himself, you will get a VERY impressive list. Jesus is our food and our drink. He sustains us. He is Adonai. He is the Word. He is I AM. He is the beginning and end. He upholds us by the trustworthiness of His Word. He renews us. He restores us. He is the Way to the Father. He is TRUTH. His viewpoint is TRUE and RIGHT and GOOD. He is our covenant with Adonai. He is our Saviour and Lord and King. He IS. And this One who professed all these things? Who didn’t hide any of these things? Who came to clearly speak to us of these things? He died for YOU. He died for ME. He LOVED us enough to do what we could NEVER have imagined. We couldn’t have made up His story if we tried. Not even AI could dream up something like this with the wildest leap and connection it could possibly make. But Jesus did. Jesus thought of it. Jesus volunteered for it. Jesus walked it through. Jesus DID it. Jesus started it and Jesus finished it. Because of love. Because of compassion. Because of us. He IS and He IS for us.

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: Romans 8:31

“What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” In a contest, there are two sides. The winner and the loser. You don’t know going in which is which. The various strengths of the different sides are pitted against each other until one side emerges the victor. With Adonai, it works a little differently. Adonai is the winner. He was the winner before anything or anyone Fell. Adonai was the winner when they Fell. Adonai is the winner as they fight against Him. Adonai is the winner no matter what they put against Him. Adonai is always the winner because the things that are made are never greater than that which makes them (Isaiah 29:16). If we choose to align ourselves with Adonai and to submit to His Lordship in our lives, then we are automatically on the winning side as well. Without having to DO anything else. We obey Him and we win. No matter what happens. No matter what is done to us. No matter what is done around us. We win. We end up on the winning side. We end up victorious. We end up conquerors. We win. Because HE wins and He’s taking us with Him. That’s Adonai’s offer to us. Do you want safety? Security? Do you want to KNOW that you KNOW that you KNOW that you are cared for, loved, cherished, and protected? He gives us that certainty. He gives us clarity. He makes what is normally unknown KNOWN to us. We don’t have to wait to see what was true. We KNOW. He TELLS us. He brings us to the place where He is by HIS efforts, not ours. When we are with Him NOTHING else matters. He loves us and takes care of us and lets us know that we are on the winning side. 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