Friend, Parent, God

Note:  This word came as I prayed over a particularly grisly section of the Old Testament, one that spoke of how King David dealt with his enemies:

Even the little child of a ruthless dictator is safe beneath her father’s hand, and how much more so a child of the Lord.  For this is what causes concern; you desire signs that the Lord is kind to His enemies because you are not always confident you are His friend.  But you are His friend, more than that, you are His child.  The Almighty God is a terrible enemy, but He is the best parent and advocate in the universe.  He is your friend, your parent, and your God.  You are blessed. 

Faith: A Firm Scaffolding for Reality

Fears are like mist rising from a field; they are insubstantial and scarcely real, like a mirage.  But fear has power to cripple your faith, contain your joy, and to turn you into a furtive, sleep-deprived shadow of a Christian. You mistake faith for fear and fear for faith.  Faith is the firm scaffolding upon which your reality can be built, but no reality can be built upon fear. 

You do not cause bad things to happen because you are afraid they might, nor do you prevent bad things from happening because you superstitiously refuse to allow certain thoughts and words to be spoken.  

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"Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare, and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge...He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him, with long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”"  (Psalm 91:3-4, 15-16).  

"You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat...You silence the uproar of foreigners as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is stilled" (Isaiah 25:5). 

"I sought the Lord and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. This poor man called and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them (Psalm 34:4-7). 

Note:  This was written in 1997 when I was suffused with fear as my young daughter boarded a plane with a few other teenagers and a sponsor for a school trip to California.  

Fear Leads to Sin

Fear will cause you to sin. You must operate from a faith perspective or you will continue to struggle with this cycle of sin and self-condemnation. 

Fear does not keep you safe. 

Freedom from fear doesn't come through striving, but is a gift appropriated by faith.  The gift is already given.

Your memories can't be trusted.  Apart from faith you remember the events, but not the sweetness of the Lord's sustenance.  You must know Him in your present in order to believe Him in your past. 

Take the Freedom Path

I tell you, the enemy you face does not come from without but from within.  There is nothing keeping you from blessings but the paralysis of fear through which Satan would afflict you with laziness and overweight, not as primary sins, but as offshoots of a need to escape from the terrible discomfort of fear. 

The Lord is going to make you a way through, Child, but you must have courage to walk the path. 

Ease will come as you walk the freedom path.  Freedom from overweight.  Freedom from weakness.  Freedom from procrastination and its accompanying helplessness of guilt and remorse.  The Lord is with you. There is time yet.  Take the freedom path.  

Scripture:  "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery" (Galatians 5:1).  

Do Not Give Way to Fear

You fear what will not happen, and this drains your resolve and energy.  Walk in the Lord's freedom, which will not be compromised because it is His and not yours.  By submitting to God you have gained higher ground, above the ability of the enemy to broach.  Do not succumb to the devil's fear tactics.  Stand firm.  This is not too difficult for you; only do not give way to fear. 

Scripture:  “No misfortune is seen in Jacob, no misery observed in Israel. The Lord their God is with them; the shout of the King is among them (Numbers 23:21).

Fear Needs to Go

It is not that you need to abide more closely so as not to feel fear, but that fear needs to go so that you can abide more closely. 

The Lord will allow you to undergo a process of discipline and drawing near to Him that will bless you and those you love. 

Freedom from fear will liberate not only you, but also your loved ones. 

Your love for God's word will bear fruit that will bless not only you, but those you love. 

The Lord is rich in mercy; able to sustain that which has been entrusted Him. So often you come to Him because of fear, fear that your sins will be punished as they deserve. Let go this fear, and do not continue in sin so that grace may abound. The Lord Himself sustains you.  

Scripture: "He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him" (1 Thessalonians 5:10). 

Abide in the Lord

Fear is an appropriate response to living in the world.  The Bible says “fear not” so often because there are so many things that frighten. You can’t hide from fear, and confronting it is not always a good idea. 

Don't just commit your fears to the Lord, commit yourself to Him. There’s a difference.  As much as you may detest the fear that oppresses you, it has been grafted into your spirit; and thus for all practical purposes is a part of you.  It follows you to all hiding places but one; the Lord's Arms offer the only refuge where fear cannot follow. 

Yes, He is always with you, but you are not always with Him; and this fact allows fear to remain. Abide in Him.