“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
Fear is one of the most destructive emotions. Jesus came to give us the antidote for fear...His life and righteousness. Many of us have been trained to do it ourselves. Value is placed on being tough and independent. Certainly scripture has encouraged us to endure and be faithful to our calling, but not alone. We are not encouraged to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. We are encouraged to merge with Jesus; I in you, you in me. What an amazing offer and invitation! He not only offered the means to conquer fear, but guarantees the outcome! We humanly want our challenges to be removed, just take it away. But, the Jesus plan is to go through it with us. That’s an expanded version where we can have peace and unique exercise with him.
So, my friend, submit your plans and worries for the day to Jesus and take your walk with Him. You may face storms or walk on the edge, but He’s right there. Fear not. Look for joy in the trip.
-Larry Smith