Christ-church Meadow, Oxford, my place of peace, as I off load anxious thoughts for Him to carry.
Do not fear, for I am with you! Do not anxiously look about you, For I am your God! I will strengthen you, I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41: 10
Fear, weariness, concern, cynicism, frustration seems to define the mood and emotions of many today. We hear of war and violence, corona virus, financial crisis, devastating storms and tornadoes, moral collapse amongst youth, a loss of faith for many young adults, and we are tempted to tremble in our boots, or to be filled with despair.
Yet, scripture speaks to us over and over again about God’s desire to protect us, to be present with us, to respond to our prayers, to crush the wicked. Over 80 times in scripture we read, “Fear Not!” and the verse above is one of my favorite “fear not” verses that I learned when I was a very young believer.
Ponder it:
Fear not because He is with us—companioning us, walking beside us, with His eye on us
Do not anxiously look about you—don’t put your eyes on the circumstances of life that threaten us, remember, He is our God.
I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
God wants us to live in peace because He cares for us, is with us, will guide us, will hold us in His hands.
Many years ago, we had lunch with some of our very dearest friends and they related to us a story. A sweet young couple had decided to kayak from Maine down to Florida. They planned their trip, got sponsors to support them, and blogged and wrote about their trip. With all of the seasons and storms, it took them a year to finish their trip.
Storms of great magnitude arose amidst their journey, and would send the waves crashing all around them. Often the rain would pelt continuously on their weary bodies and soak them to the bone. Discouragement would overwhelm them and they would think, "Why did we undertake this? We will never finish. It is too difficult. No one can do it!"
One time, however, in the midst of one such storm, they made a pact with each other.
"We will never make a decision to quit when we are in the midst of a rain storm."
A simple, but profound commitment. I decided that this was a statement worth following.
So many dear friends are surrounded by storms in their lives right now--economic, illness, weariness, loneliness, no support systems or anyone to help; difficult marriages, prodigal children, fear of the future, despair because of the times we are in, ......... The list goes on and on.
I have been through so many storms in my own life when I felt I could not go on---trials and tribulations living as a young single woman in Communist Countries with oppression and atrocities abounding. Three out of 4 children asthmatics with constant illness and emergency room situations; 17 moves and loneliness; 4 children to homeschool and very few or no support systems over the years and years of exhaustion; stress in finances, ministry, marriage, "giants" within our family that caused great difficulty and despair, about which I may never write, because I believe in honor and loyalty in family relationships.
Often, I would think, "I cannot go on. My circumstances will turn out for the worst. There is no hope. Where has God gone."
And yet, somehow, God would always lead me to take one more step, to seek to be faithful one day at a time. And the days mounted and mattered.
And yet, it is in the midst of the storms of life, that our faith is most precious. It is in these times when we can say to Satan, "You would have me fear, but I choose to believe in the goodness of God and in His provision."
I love the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Nebuchadnezzar had commanded them to bow down to the serve his idols and to worship them. The three godly men refused to bow down to his gods. The king then said that he would throw them into the fiery furnace and there would be no one to deliver them.
This is the threat of Satan, "There will be no one to deliver you."
Yet, their response is what I desire to be the response of my own heart,
"Our God whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire, ..., but even if He does not, let it be known to you, Oh king, that we are not going to serve your gods." Daniel 3 gives the story.
Of course the result is that the great king found out who was really God and made a proclamation to the whole land of God's greatness and never ending kingdom.
We are told very clearly in scripture that difficult times will come. We know from the warnings of scripture that at the end of the times, earthquakes will increase--and so they have. We know that many Christians will be persecuted all over the world. Great economic troubles, shaking our foundations as we know them, have been predicted and are coming true before our eyes. That as Paul has told us, immorality and wickedness and godlessness will be rampant. We know from Revelation that, Satan, knowing his time is short, is pouring out great wrath. (Revelation 12:13)
This, then, could from God's eyes of history, be one of the finest hours for Christians to stay true, to be faithful until the end, to endure hardship, to rejoice in His reality, to live by faith, "assurance of things hoped for, convictions of things not seen."
When I was working in Communist countries many years ago, where there were constant persecutions and imprisonments, I was so surprised to see the fervor of so many Christians in their worship of God and their delight in His reality, their praise of Him in music was heavenly. I asked an old woman about it and she said to me, "You Americans have had so much heaven on earth, that you have not known what it is to long for and hope for the heavenly Kingdom of God, where righteousness will rule, where our real longings will be satisfied, and we will see our precious Lord face to face."
And so, when our hearts are surrounded with fear and discouragement in the storms of life, let us look to the face of Jesus, our king, our savior and our Lord. He is with us. He will not abandon us. He will carry us through. Today is the best time, to believe, to hold fast, to worship by faith and to rest in His strength.
He is coming. We don not know when, but if He has seen fit to "born" us into these times, then these times are the best place where we have the opportunity to live our story of faith, which will be a testimony for eternity, that He is our trustworthy God.
