Fear No Fear

“Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar” (Genesis 19:22, MEV). Jesus loves us to save us in times of trouble if we’ll do what He says for us to do. God doesn’t FORCE us to obey. But if we are looking to Him as our Source and for our leadership, we will always be shown the Way out. The problem is obedience and perspective. We always have a result in mind when we ask someone for help and it’s no different when we ask of God. The thing is that our perspective is limited. We see only what is affecting us. God sees everything – spiritually and physically. Jesus was tortured, beaten, crucified and killed. That looks bad. That looks like failure. But every blow, every wound, and every ounce of pain was providing victory. What LOOKS like defeat can actually be VICTORY. When we align ourselves with God, we need to accept His point of view. Nothing wrong with praying for deliverance, victory, and relief. We simply need to acknowledge that the victory might not look like how we think. Lot was headed into a cave but changed to a small city (and then ended up in a different cave). The disaster was still going to be all around him. His possessions – all those flocks, the property, the homes – would still be destroyed. Everything around him was going to burn. He would lose everything. But he would be safe. His family would be safe. Nothing would be done before he was in a secure spot. The victory was a disaster from one point of view, but a total and absolute glorious victory from another. Jesus loves us enough to tell us how things look from His point of view. And Jesus loves us enough to make sure we’re safe (provided we listen to Him) before the disaster starts. We have to listen to what He says and then DO IT. Lot’s wife didn’t do it, and she didn’t make it to protection. Lot listened, but imperfectly. He made it to safety, but then his fear put him into a bad position and gave opportunity for terrible circumstances. The provision was for safety for his family. They didn’t perfectly listen, so they didn’t get perfect protection. It was provided for them, but they chose differently. We have free will. God isn’t going to force us to do anything. But if we LISTEN and we OBEY, aligning to HIS point of view regardless of what we think, see, or feel, we WILL get ALL the benefits that He is providing us. God loves us. We NEED to listen to Him (John 10:27). When we do, we’re secure in Him no matter WHAT is happening in or to the world.