Overcoming Fear – God’s Promise

Fear Not! This is the proclamation of God that we considered in our last post. Many are crippled by fear. They are incapable of moving forward in their service for the Lord and fulfilling God’s will for their lives. By His proclamation in Isaiah 43:1-5, God confronts the problem of our fears; however, in these same verses, He comforts us. God knows our needs. He knows our tendencies to doubt. So He goes beyond a command to fear not and gives us His personal assurances that there is no need to be afraid. His assurances are found in His promises and His pledge.

How precious are the promises of God! God knows our frames; He knows we are but dust (Ps 103:14). When we are overcome with fear, we tend to doubt and we question everything. Our confidence is shaken. Our faith grows weak because we are weary. Therefore, God meets us where we are and assures us of two things: His Presence and His Preservation. 

The Promise of His Presence is found in two verses: verse 2 and 5. God tells us that in the days when we are overcome with fear, we are not alone for He declares, “I will be with you” and “I am with you”. When we are overcome with fear and anxiety, we can be assured that God is with us. His presence has not left us alone. He has called us by name, we belong to Him (vs 1). When we are tempted to be afraid because the circumstances around us seem bleak and beyond our control, let us be reminded of the promise, “I will be with you.” This leads to the second promise which brings us comfort in the days of our fear. 

Our hearts are set at ease when we accept His Promise of Preservation. There are some trials which seek to overwhelm us and pull us away from our safe harbor liked a flood. In those days, let us be reminded that God has promised to preserve us. We are assured that the waters will not overflow us. Often, we feel as though we are drowning in our trials. We use expressions like, “I am keeping my head above water.” Yet for the believer, we have the promise of His preservation in these times.

There are other trials which seek to consume us and utterly destroy us like a raging fire. In those days of trials, we must believe the promise that “the flame shall not kindle upon you,” as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did. I have often tried to allow my imagination to picture that day. What conversation was had in the midst of the furnace? How did that short time with the Lord changed their lives in the days that followed?

Beloved, we know that life is filled with many circumstances which our enemy desires to use so that you and I will be taken from the battle. He longs to destroy your life and all those around you. He desires to instill fear within our hearts. God, however, desires that we live in victory as we endure the fiery trials which are sent to purify and make us more like Christ (1 Peter 1:6-7).

We also know that when we are tempted to fear that this fear does not come from God. Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” In our next post, we will look at the pledge that God has made to us in our fear. Here we will find His assurance that He will and is able to help us overcome.