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Traveling Fearlessly Through Life

Is this not an inviting proposition? To travel fearlessly through life sounds great doesn’t it? Examine two wonderful verses: the Psalmist said, “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee” (Psalm 56:3). The other verse was spoken by Isaiah, “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation” (Isaiah 12:2). Dwight L. Moody's favorite verse was Isaiah 12:2. He used to say: "You can travel first class or second class to Heaven. Second class is, 'What time I am afraid, I will trust.' First class is, 'I will trust, and not be afraid.' That is the better way. Why not buy a first-class ticket?" I would prefer to not put one verse at variance against another. How thankful I am that when my heart is overwhelmed with fear, God does not penalize me and I forfeit the opportunity to respond with a trust that yet delivers. I often think of this verse, “And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief” (Mark 9:24). Although the man was fearful and struggling, the Lord Jesus still performed the miracle for his son. So, do not give up because fear has set in, but I would like to challenge all of us to travel more often in the first class cabin of a fearless lifestyle and say by God’s grace, “…I will trust, and not be afraid…” (Isaiah 12:2b).

1. We don’t have to fear tomorrow, God is already there!

“And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou dismayed: take all the people of war with thee, and arise, go up to Ai: see, I have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land” (Joshua 8:1). The Lord is telling Joshua, that which you may be concerned about is already taken care of. He was saying if you go against the King of Ai, you shall win. These are not a gambler’s odds, but a certainty. John said, “And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last” (Revelation 1:17). Why should John not fear? Because Jesus went on to say, “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter” (Revelation 1:18,19). Christ was telling John He inhabits eternity, from the beginning to the end. He was saying, John, take up your pen and write, for I am about to tell you what shall happen in the future. He was given the order to write what “…shall be hereafter.” Before Paul’s ship was wrecked and sunk at sea, God said, “…Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee” (Acts 27:24). The Lord promised before the catastrophe that everyone would make it to shore!

This should be great incentive to trust and not be afraid. God is in control. There is not one future event that captures Him by surprise. There is nothing about tomorrow that worries Him. Our duty is to trust Him and give our lives completely over to Jesus, as He commanded, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). Right after Jesus said that He went on to say, “Take therefore no thought for the morrow…” (Matthew 6:34). Let us give God our “today”; He will take care of our “tomorrow.” We can only live one day at time, let us therefore, live it to the fullest. Don’t worry about tomorrow; go to bed and start all over again the next day just trusting Him day-by-day, moment-by-moment, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee” (Isaiah 26:3).

2. Fear is removed when we take Heaven’s view over our own perspective.

Elisha’s servant was terrified by the sight of the massive Syrian army. Elisha prayed that God would show his servant the invisible army of the host of Heaven, which He did and that view changed everything! Although we may not always have a revelation of the Heavenly hosts about us, we can be sure they are there, for Jesus said, “…for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 18:10). We need to remember the words of Elisha to his worried servant, “ …Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them” (II Kings 6:16).

George W. Boschke was the famous engineer who built the massive sea wall to protect Galveston, Texas from the hurricanes and horrible floods that had brought disaster to the city in 1900. He built his sea wall with the sure confidence of a master engineer and craftsman. From Galveston he went to Oregon to build railroads in an undeveloped section of the state. Boschke was in a camp 40 miles away from the nearest railroad when an exhausted messenger rode in and handed a telegram to his assistant. The message said that the Galveston sea wall had been washed away by a second furious hurricane. The assistant was in consternation and dreaded to hand the telegram to his chief. Boschke read the telegram, smiled, handed it back and said, "This telegram is a black lie. I built that wall to stand." He turned away and went about his work. It turned out that the message was based on a false report. True, there had been a hurricane as severe as that which had flooded the city before, but Boschke's sea wall had not been moved. It stood firm. "I built that wall to stand," said Boschke and went smiling about his work amid rumors of disaster.

If God has spoken, we can rest assured He will bring His promise to pass. We do not rest our belief on the word of man or life’s circumstances; we rest upon God’s Word, God’s ability and God’s faithfulness. Let man propagate his rumors, we choose Heaven’s view. “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (II Corinthians 4:18).

3. Faith triumphs over fear when we acknowledge God Himself is with us.

What fearful child has not been relieved when Dad takes their hand? Many a night when our kids were growing up, we would be awakened by a child crawling beneath the covers of our bed after a bad dream. Nothing calms the fears of a child like the presence of a protective parent! The Lord comforted Jehoshaphat and Judah with these words when surrounded and besieged by the enemy, “Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you” (II Chronicles 20:17). God bred confidence in His people when He said, “For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee” (Isaiah 41:13). The Bible said, “For he (Abraham) looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:10). Abraham sojourned in the land of promise. The city for which he was searching was going to be the mighty place, the abode of God, and the place of His temple. Although Abraham lived in tents and never got to realize the great city of God, he had something better; he had God Himself. The Scripture says, “After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward” (Genesis 15:1). If we have God, not only do we have a future beyond comparison with anything on earth, we have the overcoming fearless life, because of our knowledge that God is with us!

 

-Pastor Pope