“For I am the Lord your God,
who takes hold of your right hand and says to you:
Do not fear, I will help you.”
(Isaiah 41:13)
Dear Friends -
Fear is something we quickly learn in our early years especially when something goes bump in the night, or when we drop and break a family treasure and know with certainty, punishment will occur for carelessness… a reality that is repeated throughout our life instilling that there are definitely consequences for wrong actions. Obviously harmless actions are quickly forgiven when no fault is impugned for simple mistakes or genuine accidents, and we learn not to fear, for wholesome misadventure is part of the learning process. As we grow, so do the different levels of fear navigate our life, for we know the very real consequences of making the wrong decisions, which can be financially devastating, 
emotionally heartbreaking or even wasting periods of our life which will require that we start all over from scratch. So when God says, “Do not fear,” we wonder how can He be unaware of this normal tendency we mortals possess and discount it so insignificantly? You can be sure that Almighty God is absolutely aware of every single one of our weaknesses, and it is precisely because He knows what worrywarts we can be that He is cautioning us not to fear… He is able to help… He is holding our hand and guiding us to the right choice, telling us we have nothing to fear when our faith and trust in Him is foremost in our being.
Getting to that point of absolute trust and certainty in Divine Providence takes some time however, for our personal relationship with God requires periods of trial and error to establish the surety necessary for unfailing faith. When our belief in God is young and struggling, we wonder about the scope of His powers and His interest in our everyday trite requests when He has the whole world and its more serious problems to ponder. 
We need His help in so many ways, and we don’t know where to begin or end in seeking His aid, so out of desperation and in fear of making the wrong choice we often plead with Him hoping for some inkling to the right decision. That’s where it begins… placing our hope in God Almighty when no hope exists through earthly measures. Little by little we learn to recognize His intervention when things take a positive turn for us that are not of our doing, or we see the hearts of others bent by God to our assistance. The knowledge we need comes from unsolicited sources; refused opportunities extended to friends are passed on to us; a raise in salary occurs two days before a need arises for the extra income; miracles or coincidence? A miracle is the work of God’s hands, and that is absolutely what we know we got… however, coincidence some would say is the way God stays anonymous… but as His child, we learn to recognize where the gift we wanted came from because it is signed with His love.
As we get older and can look back over the years remembering all those heaven sent gifts from God caring for us so personally, our faith and trust in Him has grown so substantially it becomes impossible for us to believe He wouldn’t be there when we needed Him… and that’s when from experience, we see we have received the greatest gift… the surety of His caring… which is necessary for unfailing faith. With that unfailing faith, we can go out into the darkness of the unknown, holding on to God’s hand as tight as can be and face whatever may come our way – good or bad. When it’s bad, we grab His hand even tighter
for we know that many things, particularly evil, can cause us such painful harm beyond our speculation and so we fear; we walk into darkness with apprehension, knees shaking, heart pounding and scared to death, but, with absolute total trust in Almighty God to resolve the matter to our good. That total trust in God doesn’t remove the fear, but tempers it to bearable, even due able, because we feel His presence and realize that even if it means the momentary triumph of evil like Christ endured, we will rise to a better life for having endured a spiritual sacrifice… and when you realize that, fear dissipates as quickly as a page turning to the next chapter of your life. God promised, “I will help you” and He keeps His promises! “God is with us” is the definition for Emmanuel, the name given to Christ at His birth, which Matthew emphasizes at the beginning of his Gospel, and maintains to the very last line of his Gospel where he tells us that as Christ was sending out His disciples to all nations to baptize and teach, He emboldens them with the final words, “I am with you always.” Always! God is, was, and will always be – The Alpha & The Omega - His reality we must know and acknowledge! Fear not may be hard to hear God say, but He means it, and only with Him firmly by our side, together, we walk steadfastly and hopefully into tomorrow.
WORDS TO MAKE YOUR OWN
(Biblical history is repeated worldwide every day; the utterances and acts of the ancients are no different from that which the hearts and minds of peoples today speak or do… learn from history. What they said or did in their relationship with God could be precisely the same churnings in your own soul, and what God said or did with them may very well be the exact words you need to hear… make them your own.)
People who do not read The Bible obviously are unfamiliar with The Word of God, and have absolutely no idea what He truly is like, or the tremendous scope and depth to His powers, character and genuine love for His Creation. And yet, how often do we hear the empty heads of the secular culture spout off their uneducated opinions on what they think He is, or is not, which is usually a 
negative diatribe at His expense to justify their unbelief. Their illiterate remarks are so ludicrous to one knowledgeable in Biblical history, because even the novice student of His truths realizes a comprehensive accounting is offered there by Almighty God to whoever wishes to delve into knowing God. And know God you will if you so desire, because He absolutely wants to establish a personal relationship with each and every one of us. To prove this I have chosen some of His exact words that depict characteristics of God, describing methods and techniques He employs to demonstrate His love and care on a personal basis. Repeatedly, in one form or another, God tells us not to fear, be not afraid, or do not worry, all to drive home again and again His consistent presence to our time of need… He is a dutiful Heavenly Father that anticipates our reactions and knows exactly what to supply. For instance –--
“Be not afraid at their presence: for I will make thee not to fear their countenance.” (Jeremiah 1:17) When God told Jeremiah the prophet to go speak His words to the people, He knew Jeremiah was young and scared so He told him more or less… don’t be intimidated by them… fear not their positions of power… don’t buckle-under because I can make you brave, I will give your stance support and you will not fall, for you will be ready to take anything they may give to you. Therefore, if you have been called to the Principal’s Office, summoned into the Department Head’s Staff Meeting, or whatever anxiety-producing 
moment enters your life, remember, God is at your beck and call, so quickly pray: “God make me brave.” Believe that! Again and again, time after time, pray that until the surety of His aid is known to you. God helped Jeremiah many times over; He gave Moses who was afraid of public speaking some backbone, and even as assistant for help; and He made David, a young shepherd boy, a giant slayer! So, yes, Almighty God has the power and desire to make you not fear.
The Lord said to Paul, "Do not be afraid. Go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you. No one will attack and harm you, for I have many people in this city." (Acts 18:9-10) When God sent the apostle Paul out to do His bidding, one of the most important things to remember here is that God didn’t want Paul to feel alone, so He guaranteed “His people” would be there. Yes! Believe it, God has people! He has contacts all over the world, so when reinforcement is needed, count on God to send in His troops. They may not always be Christians astride white horses, for God can use anyone He wishes to come to your aid; even the meanness and stubbornness of your enemy He can work to your advantage, so watch and be amazed at the rescue techniques God employs. Remember this also, what God does present day is not instant miracle as in when Christ walked the earth, but God works through the natural laws to make things occur for your benefit, so if you are praying for the right mate or job, give God time to set it up and make it available, even if you have to go on several different dates or interviews, believe “His people” will come through in the end.
“Do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”(Matthew 10:19-20) We have all recapped situations afterward where we wish we would have said this, or not that, or even kept our mouth shut, and our mind calm, but we didn’t, and the wrong ending occurred. But not so with God, for the Holy Spirit can come upon you with such 
calm, and the right voice or attitude needed is brought forth, and most of all coherent thoughts for you to utter come to mind, not panic. No, God is not going to give you instant encyclopedic knowledge to spew forth, but the words you need to hold your own will be there if you take a moment to quickly pray, “Please Dear God, put your words in my mouth.” Never underestimate the Holy Spirits abilities to bring forward the exact words you need and the right ending will occur with no regrets.
God did not give up on His Creation on the day Adam & Eve committed original sin, nor did He wipe out civilization when they rejected and crucified His Son, and Jesus did not put the world on autopilot when He ascended into heaven but The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit continue to this day to work with each one of us, because The Blessed Trinity truly loves us more than most people have the capacity to understand. Ignore the evil secular airheads who know zilch, and learn for yourself from The Bible and God Himself, that His powers of old recounted, are still alive and working every day in our world… use Him who wants to be used! Be His favored child!
