Fear Not

Isaiah 41:10-14

10 So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
11 “All who rage against you
will surely be ashamed and disgraced;
those who oppose you
will be as nothing and perish.
12 Though you search for your enemies,
you will not find them.
Those who wage war against you
will be as nothing at all.
13 For I am the LORD your God
who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
I will help you.
14 Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob,
little Israel, do not fear,
for I myself will help you,” declares the LORD,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

Approximately 365 times in the bible we are told "Do not be afraid", "do not fear", "take courage" etc....So why do we live in fear?  We fear people, we fear death, we fear losing our pride, making a mistake, we fear losing Someone, we fear sickness and suffering, we fear almost EVERYTHING, if we're honest.  To be fair, some of us are more fearful than others.  There are a lot of people out there who we could take note of because of their courage....are you one of them, or do you let fear control you?

One of the things I learned as a student was when the teacher said something more than once, it was important and should be memorized, underlined, highlighted, because I would need it.  So why do you think God told us over and over again not to be afraid?  Well, the answer is pretty simple isn't it?  WE ARE NOT TO BE AFRAID.  We are to trust God, no matter what, because we will be asked to do things that are scary, we will find ourselves in situations that are scary, but the Lord is bigger than anything we face.  Satan will use fear to cripple us in doing the work God wants us to do.  Let's claim the command "Do not fear" daily, 365 times, before you set foot out of bed every morning.  Look at God and what He can do, not at the fear.  We can do big things in this world, believe it and take courage.