What Are You Afraid Of?

Isaiah 41:10

‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

The #1 category of medications prescribed in America are antidepressants. It is commonly estimated at roughly 30–35 million individuals are currently on some form of antidepressant or related medication at any given time. Some broader estimates push toward 40 million when including off-label prescribing (antidepressants are also prescribed for anxiety, OCD, chronic pain, and sleep disorders, not just depression). The government estimates that approximately 1 billion antidepressant tablets or capsules are dispensed every single month — or around 11–12 billion per year.

People are very afraid.

And fear causes us to lose touch with reality. Fear robs us of life and energy and makes us unstable. It turns us into false prophets because we dream up a reality that often does not come to pass.

The command, “do not fear” is repeated over 150 times in the Bible. It seems obvious that the Holy Spirit wanted us to hear it over and over.

Life is full of challenges and there is a lot we might fear. It’s hard enough with the struggles we go through to survive, to develop meaningful lasting relationships and to build healthy, strong families that will produce children that can stand on their own.

When you realize that we are also in a spiritual battle against invisible forces that are determined to bring us down and destroy us then you realize how much we are manipulated by our fears.

So make note of this verse.

Every time God says, “do not fear” He tells us WHY we should not be afraid. The reason is because He is with us. Not that He will be with us if we live perfectly and do enough good to deserve it.

No, God’s love is perfect even when we are not.

The promise of His presence does not mean that we will never face real trouble or that we will live a life of comfort and pleasure. Look back at the examples throughout the Bible of those who gave their all to obey the Lord. They still went through tough times.

Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednigo faced the fiery furnace for not bending their knees to a false god, but they knew that serving the living God was the choice they must make when facing pressure from the world.

Their words are a great guide for our thoughts.

“If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

But even if He does not….is the clarion call of the follower of Jesus.

I know that this life is not all there is and the integrity of my faith is more important than my physical well being. I don’t need to fear the threats of man or the anxious imaginations that my weak flesh can conjure up.

He will go through the fire with me and I will come out of it more like gold.

That is the remedy to fear.