A Closer Walk
We are living in some interesting times. There is an ancient Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times." These sure are some interesting times aren't they? So interesting they may cause anxiety or even fear. This may cause us to be timid or act in a timid manner. "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind," 2 Timothy 1:7 KJV. But does our God expect us to have anxiety or be in fear?
"Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need," Hebrews 4:14-16 KJV. Our Lord expects us, indeed commands us, to come to His throne of grace boldly. Don't be timid or anxious. We can ask anything we desire. Jesus gave us this example to follow in the Garden of Gethsemane when, knowing He was going to the cross, He asked if this cup could pass from Him.
But what about when we are not at the foot of the throne of grace? What about when we are doing life and going about our business each day? Ancient Israelite King Solomon speaks wisdom about this. "The wicked flee when no man pursueth; but the righteous are bold as a lion," Proverbs 28:1 KJV. Bold as a lion. Does that sound like someone full of anxiety and fear? Of course not. So then who are the righteous? As believers and children of God we know that we have been redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb. That makes us righteous. Not because of anything we did, but because of what Almighty God accomplished through the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. His death on the cross was the payment in full (propitiation) for the sins of all mankind, past present and future.
So the righteous are us, you and I, if we have been saved. "...if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation," Romans 10:9-10 KJV. At the point of this act of salvation God clothes us with the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. We therefore become “the righteous.” The righteous are all those who have confessed with their mouth and believed in their heart. That's why we call ourselves “believers.”
The Lord God Almighty has not given us the spirit of fear. Instead He has given us the spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. However the events of the day may give us cause to forget that and to begin to feel helpless. Don Shula, Hall of Fame football coach for both the Baltimore Colts (before their move to Indianapolis) and the Miami Dolphins, and the winningest coach in NFL history as well as the only NFL coach to produce an undefeated season, was asked about his success as a coach. His reply was, (paraphrasing) “I don't give any thought to the things I cannot control. I focus only on those things that I can control.” Most of the major events of our day, or any other day for that matter, are things over which we have absolutely no control. Say our car has a flat tire? We can do something about that. Time for supper? We can do something about that. A pandemic or natural disasters? We can't control those. We as believers would be practicing wisdom if we focus our time and effort on those things that we ourselves can control. Then leave the rest to our Lord and trust Him to deal with the many and varied problems and situations going on in our time. Agreed?
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” Praise the Lord!