Fear Not Series

I don’t know much about interpreting dreams, but I do know that the Lord used a few weird and wonderful dreams in days gone by to reveal His plans for the future. Take the prophet Isaiah. He lay down one night and had a very strange dream. He found himself in the middle of a desert with nothing but sand stretching to the horizon. He felt depressed in the dream, just like the bleak landscape. He felt hungry and thirsty and very unsatisfied. Just then, the dream took an exciting turn. Out of the sand pushed one small flower and then another. Soon grass sprouted and then trees loaded with fruit. Immediately upon awakening, Isaiah hurried to write down a fantastic description of the abundant paradise blooming and budding all around him. You can read about this in Isaiah 35. It’s a marvelous chapter for anyone with a fearful, faint heart because it talks about going from gloom to glory, from depression to ecstasy. The good news is that Isaiah forecasts this for all of God’s people! So… Is your spirit dried up like a parched desert? Has the joy and singing gone out of your life? Then ask God to replace the endless stretch of your dry days with the living water. Soon, out of the sand in your life, will push the beautiful Rose of Sharon.

How does your body react in fearful situations? In the midst of danger you may feel adrenaline rush through your system with a force that even empowers you to protect yourself from danger. If the fear is a result of an unknown future in the midst of a present affliction you may find your stomach “knotting up,” start sweating profusely, your hands quivering and knees literally shaking or “knocking.” Being overcome by fear extends beyond an emotional reaction as we literally feel it physically. The picture which the prophet Isaiah “draws” in our text for the people in his day is one of great hope, joy, courage and new life in the LORD. It was a very needed encouragement to God’s people who were living under the oppressing captivity of the Assyrians.

This was definitely a message meant to produce hope in God’s afflicted people as they would experience His new life!

Prayer

Lord of joy, strengthen my feeble hands and steady my fearful heart so that I can praise You today. Come soon, Lord, to open the eyes of the blind, to make the burning sands a pool, to crown our heads with everlasting joy, and to make sorrow and sighing flee away. In the name of Jesus our Lord we pray, AMEN.