A Closer Walk
Each of us may experience fear from time to time. How do we deal with that? How can we overcome that?
"I am the Lord, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God," Isaiah 45:5 NASB. Our Heavenly Father is the Lord God Almighty. No matter what we are facing, nor how scary or fear inducing it may be, our God is BIGGER, and more POWERFUL than whatever we are fearful about. He is the Lord God Almighty! He is the Lord and there is no God other than Him. Are we fearful because we forget Who God is? "And looking upon them Jesus said to them, 'With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible'," Matthew 19:26 NASB. With God all things are possible. Notice please, that Jesus said with God all things are possible. He did not say that with God all things will be easy.
"That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun that there is no one besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other," Isaiah 45:6 NASB. God says, "I am the Lord, and there is no other." Do we forget that? Does our fear arise because we are forgetting Who God is? "Is anything too difficult for the Lord?" Genesis 18:14 NASB. Our God asked Abraham and Sarah this question after they scoffed when God told them they would have a son. Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90; and both were far beyond the usual childbearing years. God told the two of them He would return the next year and Sarah would have a son. Guess what happened? God returned the next year and Sarah had a son. With God, all things are possible.
"It is I who made the earth, and created man upon it. I stretched out the heavens with my hands and I ordained all their host," Isaiah 45:12 NASB. In remembering Who God is, we might do well to also remember that the earth and all it contains was, in the beginning and before creation, not in existence. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters," Genesis 1:1-2 NASB. God says, "It is I who made the earth, and created man upon it." If God could start with nothing, and create the whole world and all it contains, is it possible (perhaps even likely), that He can help with whatever is going on in our world?
If we are experiencing anxiety, is it because we are forgetting who we are? Although we may go through this on occasion, we, above all other peoples, should have hope. We are children of the Living God. We have been bought with a price. And we are firmly in the hand of our Heavenly Father (from John 10:29), the Lord God Almighty. "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God," Philippians 4:6 NASB. Stated another way: Worry about nothing. Pray about everything. And be thankful for what God has already done, as well as what He will do in the future.
"Declare and set forth your case; indeed, let them consult together. Who has announced this from of old? Who has long since declared it? Is it not I, the Lord? And there is no other God besides Me. A righteous God and a Savior; There is none except Me. Turn to Me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other," Isaiah 45:21-22 NASB.
If we experience fear, is it because we forget Who God is? If we are having anxiety, is it because we forget who we are? When fear seems to be besetting us, or when anxiety seems to be overcoming us, remember this phrase from the lyrics of the song “Oh My Soul,” by Casting Crowns: “There's a place, where fear has to face, the God you know”.