Fear is a heavy, coarse-haired bear and devastating to wrestle with. Her size smothers you. Her jaws can crush you. Her teeth tear at you and she is awful to tame and conquer. Because of this, our enemy likes to unleash her on us as often as possible, lest we remember the promises of God which have, like David did his lambs, snatched us out of the paw of the bear (1 Samuel 17:37). If you can read these words today and say honestly, “There is nothing of which I am afraid” then you are living in a rare place and should give God great thanks for the victory He has given you and caused you to sense. I am not afraid of everything but I will not lie to you: I have some true fears and their bite is bad. So when I heard these ancient verses below from Isaiah last night, spoken by a woman whom I had never met, I could hear the Voice behind the voice and knew that God has sent His echo to me. Fear lost the day because my ear was made open to God’s promise which had grown very faint in my thinking. Let all praise and honor be His today, the Great Bear-Crusher who calls Himself my Maker, my Husband, my Redeemer and my God.
“Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is His name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth He is called.” – Isaiah 54:4-5 {ESV}
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An E-Sword search suggests that “Fear not” comes up 62 times in the Bible. Not all spoken by the Lord of course, but many are.
Also in Isaiah we have :-
(41:10) Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
(43:1-2) But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
What grace & mercy from our Father in heaven to give such promises!
Amen and Amen! Isaiah is my favorite book of all the Bible I love.
Husband to the widow (Claudia made sure I knew this one in 2005), Father to the orphan (I had orphaned myself), and beauty for ashes (I have a permanent reminder of this).
God is so perfect-there is not one speck of life uncovered by Him. He moves in to fill vast canyons of need as well as microscopic particles of erroding fear.
If I ask.
Amen!