Fear Not

 

Fear Not, for I Am with You

Psalm 121:5-8 The Lord watches over you the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

Isaiah 41:8-10 But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend; you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”; fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. 

I was sitting in church one Sunday being the security monitor. Our church has cameras mounted all around the outside of the church as well as some inside monitoring the nursery. I personally think this is unbelievable, but we live in a different age. You see like it or not these are different times we live in. We have a team of 7-10 men that rotate this monitor position. The theory is that if the person monitoring the cameras sees a threat then they alert the others and we take appropriate action.

Most people in our church know about this position and it gives us a peace of mind while we are in worship. But what about stepping away from the church building, what gives you a peace of mind and a feeling of security? 

It can be hard to find peace in a world filled with so many things to worry about, especially when those things are constantly bombarding our senses. Our minds are subconsciously scanning for danger to help keep us alive and identify opportunities to make our lives more at peace. It’s why we’re more likely to keep an eye on the oven than our Bible. The sights, sounds, and smells of this physical world just feel more real than the spiritual.

What about that spiritual battle? How do we fight that? Through prayer and talking to Jesus is the way for us Christians. For those to whom religion isn’t very important, even thinking about Christ let alone praying or talking to God may seem to have little to no effect, and may even slightly increase anxiety. This could also lead them further away from a relationship with Christ. 

First of all, non-believers may not recognize spiritual warfare. So how do they handle the stress or anxiety? Most likely through behaviors like drinking, carousing or other destructive actions. This just leads to a deeper spiral. 

As a Christian we have faith, we have knowledge, we have peace of mind knowing that God has our back. He is our protector our only one that can save us for this world.

2 Samuel 22:2-5 He said, “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; you save me from violence. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. 

Lord Jesus, hear my cry. I ask you to give me all around peace in my mind, body, soul and spirit. I want you to heal and remove everything that is causing stress, grief, and sorrow in my life. Please guide my path through life and make my enemies be at peace with me.