A new view of that “Fear Not” command…. <3
In keeping with our theme of hopping in the car early and heading off for a long day somewhere to be with people we love, I have about 15 minutes before Russ calls me to help load his kayak on the back of the truck and we head south so he and Sarah can yak while I read.
Or nap.
Which sounds more probable.
Anywho…
My quick dip into my devotions this morning brought up this gem and I don’t know if it was just for me, but I rather doubt it when I look out over the landscape of life on planet earth in 2021.
So I am passing it along to you with prayers whoever needs this insight, finds it.
In a daily book given to me at Christmas by my dear friend who prayerfully searches for which one to share each year, I found this thought:
While we, as humans, are alarmed by the presence of fear – Jesus whole life was lived in a swirl of fear-inducing circumstances.
Born into the terrible threats of Herod, living on the run to Egypt, His miracles produced fear in people, He was hated, hunted and killed on a Cross.
The author, Rick Lawrence, points out that in the midst of all of this, He Himself never feared and constantly encouraged His followers to not be afraid – because He knew He had nothing to lose.
He had already given up everything to save us.
We, however, are always worried about what we might lose and so we fear.
Lawrence goes on to say that our “fears” are relative to circumstance and one fear will become overshadowed by a bigger fear. He gives the example that a financial pinch may cause us to fear, but that fear would cower to a diagnosis of cancer as we faced the greater fear of losing our health over our money.
He ends with this thought:
“It’s the weight of the fear that recalibrate our reality. And Jesus wants to be the heaviest weight in our universe – so bit that all our lesser fears lose their traction, and ‘in the shadow of His wings’ (Psalm 17:8) we discover our safest refuge.”
Rick Lawrence, Jesus-Centered Daily; Group Publishing, Inc. 2020; July 14 entry
Wow.
Isn’t that powerful?
Whatever raises its head to threaten you today, remember….it is still under His feet <3