Do Not Be Afraid!

Do Not Be Afraid!

“In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” Psalm 56:11

“Do not be afraid; only believe.” Mark 5:36

The Bible tells us 286 times, “Do not be afraid”.  That is surely easy enough to say but sometimes it doesn’t seem to be enough.  There is surely enough going on in this world for people to be scared out of their wits; if they are not a Christian.  Notice, I said if they are not Christians.

Two weeks ago I wrote a teaching on my blog, “I Will Never Leave You” and the theme of it was that God would never leave you or forsake you. In other words, you have nothing to fear.  When we are fearful, we need to remember that “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”  [2 Timothy 1:7]  Ask yourself this question, ‘if God hasn’t given us fear, who has?’ Fear comes from the enemy of our soul; Satan.  It is one of his strongest tools. When we are bound by fear we become vulnerable and helpless, but we can overcome that.   

I have to admit that I have some fears, a couple that I have to use all my faith to handle.  One of those fears is of flying; my heart races and my imagination takes hold, but I have done it several times by praying and reading the Bible.  I can do all things through Christ; therefore I have conquered it, but I still prefer driving.  The other thing where I come to the point of losing control, is the fear of mice.  God help me!  My mother instilled this in me and I have lived with it my whole life.  Reason tells me they are very small harmless creatures, but reason leaves me when I see one; dead or alive.

These fears are emotional ones and this is not what I’m talking about.  I am talking about the fear of the physical body; our own or that of our loved ones.  Let me explain:  some people cannot watch the news, hear anything about terrorists, or be told Isis is cutting off people’s heads.  That is a lack of faith.  Faith tells me that God will be with me in any situation; even death.  Paul tells us that “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.”  We know Jesus said, “Do not be afraid” many times, because he would be there to help us and strengthen us.

Believers, there may be dark days ahead of us; trust in God, no man can steal your soul.  To be honest, if I was about to have my head cut off, I would be terrified, but I would be calling on Almighty God to deliver me from evil.  That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t die, but God would take me to heaven and I would live there forever. 

If you have received Jesus as your Savior, your soul has nothing to fear.  If you are not born again, you should be terrified when you die, because your soul will be headed straight to hell.  Hell is a real place and it will never end.  Where you go when you die is your choice; not God’s. 

Jesus was not talking to unbelievers when he said, “Do not be afraid”.  He was talking to those who believed in him and accepted him as their Savior.  If you know there is a God and a Jesus, remember, the enemy of your soul also knows that.  Just knowing is not enough, you need to turn your life over to the Lord and let him lead you on the right road to salvation.

In Psalm 56:11, “In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”   If you trust in God, he asks the question, “What can man do to you?”  What God is telling you is not that you will escape pain or death, but that your soul is safe with him.  “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” [Hebrews 9:27]  We will all die someday unless Jesus takes us in the rapture and that could happen, but otherwise we will all die of something.  

 

In the meanwhile, we must live for God to the best of our ability and be ready to meet Jesus face to face. No matter how evil this world becomes; no matter what destruction may come, hold on to the Lord.  Do not be afraid. “When these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”   [Luke 21:28]