I Will Not Be Afraid
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2 Timothy 4:1-5
1. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2. preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, and exhort, be unfailing in patience and in teaching. 3. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, 4. and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths. 5. As for you, always be steady, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil your ministry.
Hebrews 13:5-6
"I will never fail you nor forsake you." 6. Hence we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid; what can man do to me?"
Last night as I listened to the news, received prayer requests, and got caught up on all the recent events in the lives of some of our friends and neighbors, I was a bit taken aback! A lot is going on! Not just the war, not just Virginia’s men and women being placed in harm’s way and dying, not just the Mayor-elect of Richmond charging full-steam ahead as he points out all the problems with the city. And more than that, not just the TB scare at a local high school, a full couple of days at my office – when I left last night the clinical staff was in “high panic mode” over a couple of issues. And it just goes on and on, an acquaintance missing—family not sure where he is, father of an old friend passed away, friends dealing with some serious, scary life issues, and the tsunami, and the mudslides in California. It just goes on and on.
It would be easy to get into a high panic mode myself. It happens when we are overwhelmed by all the bad news. All of life’s uncertainties, any time more than a couple of things happen that are out of our control, we can slip into the “woe is me” frame of mind. But these scripture offer us comfort and hope, and a way to deal with all the troubles in the world, and in our lives. It’s not as easy as hust reading a few verses from the bible, I know that. Going to scripture is just one part of the process. But it’s an important part! I’m pretty sure that the catastrophes described in the bible are equal to or exceed anything you’ll hear on the news. OK, the tsunami is probably close to “biblical proportions.” It’s terrible. And we feel helpless. And then there’s the day-in-day-out stuff that makes up our life.
How are we supposed to get our kids to school, and get ourselves to work, and do the grocery shopping, go to PTA, meetings at church, work overtime, mow the lawn, etc., etc., etc., as if nothing is wrong in the world?
"The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid; what can man do to me.” These verses pretty well sum up the how. Our trust in God’s plan for us, individually and as a world, is what gets us through the day. And our faith is how we determine what we’ll do about all the issues we deal with, what we’ll do, what we’ll say, what we’ll think, what we’ll teach our children, and how we’ll live our lives. That’s the only way I know how to do it! Trust, keep the faith. Even on those days when it doesn’t seem like it’s true, God is in charge. Knowing that makes me feel much better, because I am powerless to alter the course of history. I am incapable of undoing one single event I hear about on the news. And I am unable to imagine living in a world that is controlled by mankind’s whims and folly!
I hope today you re-charge your “faith batteries” by taking a few minutes to read the promises of scripture. And that you reassure your children, yourself, and everyone you meet, by telling them God is charge.
Mary
