Fear No Fear

“Jesus departed from the temple and was leaving when His disciples came to show Him the temple buildings. Jesus answered them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down.”” (Matthew 24:1-2, MEV). Jesus loves us enough to warn us. Jesus doesn’t shy away from hard truths. Jesus doesn’t tell us life is going to be easy street. Jesus loves us enough to warn us. When we see something bad or difficult in the future, we warn those we love who are heading toward it so that they can make other choices, prepare themselves, and end up in a better place. Jesus does the same thing. He is NOT trying to get us worried or anxious about anything. Jesus doesn’t deal in fear EVER. Jesus warns us for at least two reasons. First, so that we are not uninformed. Second, so that we realize our problems don’t come to his attention when WE find out about them. If we realize that Jesus knew about the problems we are hitting in life BEFORE we hit them, we can be encouraged and take heart in the TRUTH that Jesus has an answer for us. Sure, it might not be the answer we want, but it will be the answer that shows God’s glory, enables us to trust in Jesus, and be a witness to the world around us. In other words, God provides us an answer that is the answer to a whole issue – not just our small part of it. We can take great comfort in knowing hard times are coming, because Jesus knew about it and has a Way for us to go. He has a path for us. He has protection for us. He has safety for us. Not necessarily safety as WE think of it, but safety in the sense that we will not be touched in any way that REALLY matters because we will be at rest inside Jesus’ protection and no where else. We will be with Him in the boat, not at the mercy of the waves. This was Paul’s stance as he sat in prison awaiting his execution. He was safe, he was able to get through it all, and he was able to (and did) because of his resting in Jesus (Philippians 4:13). Jesus tells us the future because He loves us and wants us to trust in Him. We can trust in Him because we know He loves us and wants the absolute best for us in all things.