Don't Fear! Trust In God!

 

THU Evening Prayer Reflection 121020 (Is. 7: 1-9; 2 Thess. 1: 1-12)

A friend of mine recently sent me an article written by C. S Lewis that talked about the era of living in the age of the Atomic Bomb 72 years ago. The commentator was obviously taken by the resemblance of that era in which the article was written and our own era of the global pandemic of COVID-19. It was as if it would be totally fine to replace the word Atomic Bomb with COVID-19 pandemic in the original article. He was lamenting of how very alarmed and terrified we can be with the rising number of victims or people we know that have or are still struggling with the disease. He was blunt about it when he chastises us not to feed our fears with the hype of what is already an awful situation and he urged us to not be paralyzed by fear. Our world has seen similar or worse pandemics before. I did not sense that he was fatalistic, well may be a little… We need to rally with one another, to pray for each other and to encourage one another, and be careful with all the precautions that are required and live. I just think this is sound advice.

I saw a similar situation where people were paralyzed by fear. The prophet Isaiah tells a story of an impending attack of Jerusalem. People were terrified. In fact, the Bible says that their heart shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. This means they were pale with fear! God didn’t like this situation, so He asked Isaiah to say to them [I am paraphrasing]: “Take heed, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint… Those who are plotting against you, tell them, it shall not come to pass. If you do not stand firm in faith, you shall not stand at all.” God does not want us to be in a state of hysteria, a state of panic. God wants us to trust in him with every ounce of our lives. Let go of that which we think will save us, and let what God has planned be! Stand firm in your faith!

I can’t tell you how many times I have been in grave situations that were potentially fatal. Fear can overwhelm us and paralyze us. This word from God shows us that there is another way: Trusting God. Paul often repeated this to his listeners telling them not to be alarmed no matter how serious the situations may be. This is what he told Thessalonians: “As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here.” Paul explains everything about the day of the Lord so they understand that it rather concerns greatly the rebellion.

Paul was encouraging them not to live in fear. If you know the Lord… you should know that what saddens you also saddens the Lord. There isn’t anything the Lord wouldn’t do to comfort you! The Lord has already shown you that He loves you by dying for you on the cross, our response to his love is trust and faith. Jesus calls us into union with him. In this union, we have warmth as if there was a divine blanket that keeps us from the cold of our fears.

There will be no shortage of things that terrify us… History has shown us that humans have become victims of unfortunate natural events… diseases, wars and many lives were lost. The genius of humanity is that people were able to rebuild their lives! Big disasters that took lives and livelihoods and yet, persistence; faith; hope and love made people rebound. We are invited to be quiet. Don’t fear God says! Trust in God and in Christ Jesus His son.

It does not play in our advantage to live in fear. We miss out in life. We are encouraged to remain in the Lord… Prayers, psalms, activity with fellow Christians, encourage each other, call each other and inquire how others are doing… share your burdens and let them pray for you. That’s life in God’s Kingdom! We don’t scare each other, we build each other!

Amen!