ISAIAH 41: 10-14
GOD REASSURES HIS PEOPLE
In his first INAUGURAL SPEECH in 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt, the newly elected president of the US, addressed a nation that was still reeling from the Great Depression. Hoping to ignite a more optimistic outlook regarding that economic crisis, he declared, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself!"
Fear often shows up in our lives when we are at risk of losing something-our wealth, health, reputation, position, safety, family, friends. It reveals our natural desire to protect the things in life that are important to us, rather than super-naturally entrusting them to God's care and control. When fear takes over, it cripples us emotionally and saps us spiritually. We're afraid to tell others about Christ, to extend our lives and resources for the benefit of others, or to venture into new territory. A fearful spirit is more vulnerable to the enemy, who tempts us to compromise biblical convictions and to take matters into our own hands.
The remedy for fear, of course, is trust in our Creator. Only when we trust the reality of God's presence, power, protection, and provision for our lives can we share the joy God intends for us. Trust in the Lord is the cure for a fearful spirit [Joe Stowell. Our Daily Bread]. God’s Covenant people therefore were and are commanded not to fear regardless of their circumstances.
God’s own help guaranteed that Israel could accomplish His purpose for them, just as it does for us. God would use their difficulties to strengthen them until they were ready to become His instruments of harvest and triumph over their enemies. Take heart servants of God! All He has put you through will be used to make you more than a conqueror through Him who loves you.
The people of God should not be a fearful people (CIT). The phrase “Fear not” or “Be not afraid” is found 365 times in the Bible. We should not be a people who are anxious or troubled or worried or fretful about things that threaten our life and happiness such as economic adversity, hostile people, satanic opposition, guilt-laden consciences, deteriorating health, and death. The mark of God's people is not incapacitating fear, but rather contrite courageous confidence in God. We need not fear for the Lord remains our God (Isa. 43:3) so He will continue to be with us (43:5) to strengthen (40:31), help (41:13-14), and uphold us.
I. HIS PROMISED PRESENCE, 10.
II. HIS PROMISED PROTECTION, 11-12.
III. HIS PROMISED PROVISION, 13-14.
Verse 10 is one of the great promises of Scripture. ‘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.’
Here God addresses words of encouragement to His people. Because of their relationship with Him they do not need to fear anything. This is not positive thinking. Their hope is not in casting off negative thoughts. Their confidence is in what God promises to do for them.
God gives [five] reasons we need not fear. First, We should take courage because He, our God, is with us. This is a solid foundation of confidence, and if it be fixed in our minds, we shall be able to stand firm and unshaken against temptations of every kind. When we think that God is absent, or doubt whether or not He will assist us, we are agitated by fear, and tossed about amidst many storms of distrust. But if we stand firm on this foundation, on the foundation that God is with us, we will not be overwhelmed by any assaults or tempests. By nature we are timid and full of distrust, but we must correct that vice by this reflection; “God is present with us, and cares for us.” Again the phrase, “Fear not” or “Be not afraid” is found 365 times in the Bible, one for each day of the year. Jesus promised His presence in Matthew 28:20: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” When you’re filled with fear, remember this truth and declare it out loud: I will have no fear because He is here!
The second reason not t fear is because of our personal relationship with Him; He is our God. But who is He? Is He a helpless God? No, He is the great "I Am." Every other being in the universe needs sustaining. He alone is self-existent, complete in Himself. He is our God.
I will not be dismayed because He is my God. To be dismayed means to be anious and filled with fear. It literally means, “To look around anxiously as one does in a state of alarm.”
I’m convinced that if each of us would see God as awesome as He truly is, most of our fears would vanish because when we reverence God, we won’t fear other things. To expand your view of the Almighty, read Isaiah 40 and Isaiah 41 this week. Here’s a sampling from Isaiah 40:10, 23: “See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and His arm rules for Him…He reduces rulers to nothing, who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.”
I will live without fear because God is with me. I will not be dismayed because He is my God.
God next gives us assurance that He will strengthen. . . help. . . and support us. Since God, their God, is with them, they can expect certain things from Him. The promises are stacked one on top of the other. He who knows our weaknesses promises to strength us. Not only will He strengthen, but He will help, and not only will He strengthen and help, but He also will uphold us. Hebrews 13:6 says: “So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’” God will never “unfriend” us when we do something stupid or when we sin or when we’re stressed out but instead He promises to help us.
The word “uphold” means to hold up or grasp, to support. The idea is similar to the word undergird which means to make secure underneath. That upholding is symbolized by God's righteous right hand. His righteous right hand denotes "right" action in all circumstances. Thus God's great power ("right hand") will do the right thing for His suffering people and deliver them.
Do you feel like you’ve failed? Do you wonder why you fall so many times? Hold on to the truth that He upholds you when you feel like you’re barely holding on. Psalm 145:13-14: “The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made. The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.” He helps us and He holds us when we’re shaking like a leaf.
God gives us assurance of His strength, help and support in life and death. Have you realized all the ways God has helped you?
[The frequency of the repetition of "fear not" is some measure of the devastating shock that the exile would be (40:9; 41:10, 13, 14; 43:1, 5; 44:2,8; 51:7; 54:4).]
One summer night during a SEVERE THUNDERSTORM a mother was tucking her small son into bed. She was about to turn the light off when he asked in a trembling voice, "Mommy, will you stay with me all night?" Smiling, the mother gave him a warm, reassuring hug and said tenderly, "I can’t dear. I have to sleep in Daddy’s room." A long silence followed. At last it was broken by a shaky voice saying, "The big sissy!" [Unknown.]
Those who try to deny feelings of fear keep themselves out of touch with the experience of having to depend upon the Lord for all things. Only when we are willing to admit that fear drives us to greater dependence on the Lord are we able to see the advantages that feelings of fear create. When we feel ourselves getting weak it is the time to ask the Lord’s Spirit to replace our feelings of fear with His power, love and sound mind (2 Tim. 1:7). Allow the Lord to manifest His courage, confidence and wisdom through you as His vessel.
II. PROMISED PROTECTION, 11-14.
When we trust in God’s presence and power we are not only delivered from our “fears,” we are also “delivered” from our enemies or the source of those fears. Verses 11 and 12 promise the destruction of those who use fear as a weapon against us. “Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored; Those who contend with you will be as nothing, and will perish. (12) “You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them, Those who war with you will be as nothing, and non-existent.
These verses make specific the promises of God's help and defense. Because of specific conflicts with God’s people, they will receive specific results. God declares that all Israel's adversaries, from those who are angry with them (v. 11) to those who are actually making war on them (v. 12), will slink away in disgrace, ashamed and humiliated (v. 11). They will do so because they are as nothing in the presence of Israel's God.
If you are afraid of the dark valley experiences remember that God’s love can carry through whatever problems you are experiencing. God in His loving way finds a way when there seems to be no way. He alone shows us how to resolve all conflicts. He helps us focus on His immeasurable love and then allows us to love others through Him. Allow His love to quiet your fears and give you greater confidence! Remember God said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay” (Rom 12:19, Heb. 10:30).
You may be particularly conditioned to take threats, criticisms or frightening situations personally, but learn to objectively offer up all fears to the Lord. Ask the Lord to help you become bigger than any problem you will face. Develop a thick skin to the fiery darts from the evil one as you take up the shield of faith (Eph. 6:14-18). Learn to lovingly accept whatever scary circumstances the Lord allows to come into your life. He is able to work all things together for good. He wants to show you how greatly He loves you and will work in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. His grace is always sufficient for whatever weakness, fear or feeling of deficiency you have. God spoke to Paul saying, "MY grace is sufficient for you for My power is made perfect in your weakness. Most gladly therefore, I will boast of my weakness (feelings of fear) for when I am weak, then I am strong, the less I have the more I depend on you." (2 Cor. 12:9,10)
God may not remove the afflictions in your life but He will provide you with sufficient grace so as to demonstrate His power through you. Allow God’s power to be displayed through weaknesses for this encourages the hearts of others to trust Him too. BILL GAITHER wrote a great song about this confidence called "Through It All.” It goes like this, "I thank God for the mountains. I thank Him for the valleys. I thank Him for all He’s brought me through. For if I never had a problem. If I had never had to worry. I’d never know what faith in God could do! Through it all, through it all. I’ve learned to trust in Jesus. I’ve learned to trust in God."
A young MUSICIAN’S CONCERT was poorly received by the critics. The famous Finnish composer Jean Sibelius consoled him by patting him on the shoulder and saying, ‘Remember, son, there is no city in the world where they have a statue to a critic.’ [Haddon Robinson.]
III. PROMISED PROVISION, 13-14.
The reason for the deliverance is given in verse13. “For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand, Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’
The time of rejection is past. God has forgiven His people and they can face the future without fear. They will be helped and kept form faltering or falling.
[Note the parallelisms with v. 10: admonitions not to fear because He is their God and will help them.] Interestingly, where v. 10 speaks of God's right hand upholding us, this verse says that He will hold our right hand. Taken together, these two verses present a powerful picture of parent and child. The Father's mighty right hand can defeat any enemy, but in his left hand HE is holding His child's right hand. He does not merely stand by to defend, but He is also physically with the child. He will not allow the child to be separated from Him. The final emphatic I underlines the personal involvement of God in all of this child’s life.
The command not to fear is repeated in verse14. “Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel; I will help you,” declares the Lord, “ and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.”
Worm is a reference not only to why they would find them selves in exile but their condition there. They would be feeble, despised and stepped on. But even so God would help them. He would redeem them or deliver them from the circumstance they had brought upon themselves. Praise His name; He still does the same for us today.
God is strong enough, creative enough, and compassionate enough that no other being in the universe will be able to prevent Him from carrying out His plan.
When we are feeling afraid it is time to realize that we should confess our sins of self-reliance. Too many people are carrying burdens that God did not intend them to bear. Let fear be like a warning light on the dashboard of your life. It is a signal to attend to some problem that needs fixing before the engine of your heart overheats. Do not deny your feelings of fear, but use it as a catalyst to take up the full armor of God that Paul talks about in Eph. 6:10-18. Perhaps you have let down your guard. Fearful times are allowed to come in to our life to make us more compassionate, sensitive and caring for those who have similar needs so we can more effectively encourage them in the Lord from what we have learned through our experiences. Paul wrote, "He comforts us in all our afflictions so that we are able to comfort those who are afflicted with the comfort we receive from God." (2 Cor. 1:3,4)
Do not be afraid of being vulnerable as the Lord wants to deliver you when you are sticking your neck out for Him. It is true that THE TURTLE never makes any progress until he sticks out his neck, so it is for those of us who have a tendency to want to feel safe all the time. David wrote, "The Lord is my light and my deliverer. Whom then shall I fear. The Lord is the strength of my life from whom then shall I be afraid” (Ps. 27:1,2). Speak out about His word, His will and His working in your life instead of being afraid of what others might think of you. Remember, "even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. Do NOT fear what they fear, do not be frightened. But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander." (1 Pet. 3:14-16)
Rework your perceptions of ideal circumstances. Things do not have to always be perfectly safe, secure and stable before the Lord’s will is accomplished. Learn that there are many cycles in life. There is a time for tears and there is a time for rejoicing. Many times the Lord allows conditions to get worse so He can make us better. Some of us magnify scary situations way out of proportion. Resist the temptation to over react! Rethink our hardships in the light of the difficulties Jesus faced and know that we can endure whatever fearful circumstances with His strength, love and courage. The Spirit lives to make intercession for us. The Spirit is our comforter who empowers, enable and endows us with His confidence to accomplish everything in His perfect will.
Reckon yourself dead to feelings of selfish desire to control every situation. Many people grow angry when they feel afraid because they are afraid something is going to be taken away from them. James wrote, "What is the source of troubles among you? Is it not your own desires that wage war in your members. You fight and quarrel because you do not have what you want." (James 4:1-4) Confess your sins and turn the controls of all your emotions, situations and outcomes over to the Lord. Let His Spirit fill you with His love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control.
IN CONCLUSION:
Imagine living your whole life and missing all the good things the heavenly Father has prepared for you. Every person in the world has an opportunity to live this earthly life to the fullest, but some do not take it because they spend their time in bondage to fear. Don’t allow that to happen to you. The next time you feel anxious, take hold of God’s Word and be courageous. Your heavenly Father has promised that He will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). He wants you to be able to proclaim your faith in Him with confidence. No matter what the Lord calls you to do, He will give you the power and wisdom to accomplish it. He calls you to serve Him out of a desire to fellowship with you and bless you—not to frighten or dominate you. Therefore, trust in Him and experience a resounding victory over fear.
Friends, I have to level with you today. If you are not in Christ, you have not been made righteous and you have every reason to be fearful. If you have not surrendered you life and invited Him in to be your Lord and Savior, He is not Your God, for He is not in you. He alone takes us into the presence of the Father. John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us…” He was sent from the presence of the Father and He is the presence…and He takes us into the presence of the Father when we put our faith in Him for forgiveness of sins.
If you have not yet been born again, that is the decision you need to make. Profess Him as your Lord and Savior and then the promise of His presence will be fulfilled in your life.
