FEAR NOT, I AM WITH YOU!

We are living in troubled times.  Men’s hearts are failing them for fear.  Are you living in fear today, my friend?  Do you have a crushing fear that you can’t seem to let go?  Are you fearful of circumstances that come into our lives such as financial problems?  What if I lose my home, my employment?  How can I take care of my children?  And the fears could go on and on.  Are you fearful of the future? 

“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?  The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?  When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my enemies and my foes, they stumbled and fell.  Tho an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident” Psalm 27:1-3

He is my Light and my salvation and He is the strength of my life.  And even if you feel like an army is besieging you, you can be confident that no matter what happens in the world around you, in this nation and in our own life, you can say with David “whom shall I fear.”

As a child of God, and when times of fear come, when circumstances cause you to tremble, remember that He is with you. “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear what man can do to me?” Hebrews 13:5-6.  In the midst of fear He tells you that He is always with you and will walk with you through life’s problems.

Also in the midst of fearful times, He says “I Am Your God!”  He is saying that “you belong to me, dear child, and nothing is impossible with me.  There is nothing that you and I can’t handle together every day, because you are my child and I love you.”  And it is so wonderful to know that it is not only the big things in our lives that God handles, but He takes care of the small insignificant details of our lives. We can just ask Him all day long to handle every problem that may arise, and you will be amazed at the little surprises that He will bring into our lives.

In all our fearful times and life’s problems, He promises to “help” us.  “God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give away and mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging” Psalm 46:1-3.  Even though we may see great earthquakes and hear of great hurricanes, with wind and waves roaring, He still is in control and calms our fears.  What a wonderful God we serve!

In Isaiah 41:13 we read:  “For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’”

I heard a beautiful teaching on hands.  Do you know that there are over 2,000 examples of hands in the Bible?  Look at your hands.  Do you know that is each hand there are twenty bones?  Your hands are special and God’s hands are special.

Have you recently looked at a newborn baby’s hands?  They are so precious and so perfectly formed with tiny little fingers and fingernails.  And I love to hold the hands of the elderly, sometimes so soft, but so worn and lined with the years of hard labor.

We see the hands of God in this chapter of Isaiah, taking hold of our hands and telling us not to fear.  He is like our earthly fathers who would take our hand as a little child and tell us not to fear, I’m here.  I love the promise in Isaiah 49:16 and it bears repeating again to remind us of His tender love and His precious hands.  “See , I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.”

Every time He looks at His hands he sees you written there.  I visited a dear elderly man and reminded him of this promise, and he continually looked down at His hands, and he said, “But that is millions of people.” And I reminded him that he was there too!  God had his name written there.  When I left his home he was still looking at his hands.  We are safe from all the fears of this life and the terror that may come upon this world, safe in His hands!

Then there are the beautiful hands of Jesus, His healing hands.  We remember how He touched the blind eyes, the lame, the withered hand and He is still healing today and healing His people with His precious hands.  And I am reminded that His hands are nail scarred.  For He loved us so much that he took those nails for our sins upon that cross, our Precious Lord!

I want to remind you that all of us face fear at some time in our walk with the Lord, but He wants to remind us today that we are special.  He is with us and never leaves us.  He is our God and He comes along side of us to help us and to strengthen us in all our days and all our ways.  And when He comes along side of us, we don’t have to fear the things coming on us or on this world.  All the torments of fears and anxieties have to leave when He is near, and then He brings peace to our fearful and troubled hearts.

In His Name,

Pastor Sharon Besler