“Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.” – Deuteronomy 31:6
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:9
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” – Psalm 23:4
“Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” – Isaiah 41:10
You see a pattern here? Look at how many times (this is just a sampling) we are told in the Bible, essentially, “Don’t be afraid. The Lord is with you.”
We are a faith church, right? My heart’s desire is to see LWFC become a body of believers that speak and act in faith as a lifestyle; who see God working mightily in our lives, who live in the manifest blessings He has promised. And we know that it is by faith and patience that we inherit the promise, and we want to be in faith, so we guard against negative confessions and if we’re not careful, we can slip into worrying about whether we are in faith or not.
I’ve often heard it said that fear is the opposite of faith. Well, it’s not, really. doubt is the opposite of faith. But fear feeds doubt just like the word feeds your faith. You’ve heard it said many times: “faith begins where the will of God is known.” But where does fear begin? I believe fear enters in when we lose sight of the fact that God is with us. When we forget that He has promised to be with us, fear enters in; we are overwhelmed with the sense of being unchaperoned in the midst of a trial. And when fear enters in, it produces doubt concerning God’s word and will. And faith wanes.
Thus are we commanded again and again and again in scripture to not fear, and we are reminded again and again and again that God is with us! Often, we receive that command and that reminder in the very same breath!
If you are going through a trial or are on a “faith adventure” and faith starts to wane, don’t just pray for faith; be still and know that He is God and He is there, with you! Fear flees in the presence of God and takes doubt with it!
Imagine how fearless we would be if we could see Jesus walking with us wherever we go. See Him or not, though, He is here. No accident at all that one of the last things He spoke before the ascension was “. … lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Amen.
