It was such a blessing to have Ray Leung speak on Sunday. All of us, at one time or another, have dealt with the issue of fear. There are so many unknowns in life and so many things beyond our control that it can be easy to succumb to fear. And what the world offers us isn’t very helpful. As Ray said, fear often works by isolating us from others. What the world tells us is that we are more or less alone in dealing with our fear–it says that there is no one out there who can help us or who we can trust.
But the amazing thing is that God offers us a completely different way of seeing things. It’s a way of seeing things that goes against everything that the world tells us. When we feel alone in our fear, God tells us, “I’ll be with you.” When we feel there is no one we can trust, God tells us, “trust in my promises.” It’s an entirely different way of living!
We see so many examples in the Bible of God making promises to people, asking people to trust him. God told Abram not to fear, but that God would give him offspring like the number of stars in the sky (Genesis 15). God promised Jacob that He would make Jacob a great nation (Genesis 46). An angel of God told Mary that she would have a Son who would save the world from sin (Matthew 1). And Elizabeth was promised a son who would make the way for Jesus (Luke 1).
All of these are stories of promises that God made to people, for outcomes that were completely out of their reach. God told people to trust Him and to not fear, even though the voices all around were saying the opposite. And God asks us to do the same. God gives us a way to deal with our fears–it is to put our trust in God, and His faithfulness.
When we think about the opposite of fear, we may think of things like strength or boldness. We may think that the opposite of fear is to just be strong enough to overcome the things we’re scared of. But as Ray said, the opposite of fear is not strength–the opposite of fear is freedom. God gives us freedom from the chains of fear and isolation. God tells us that we can be free of fear by putting our trust in Him and His promises.
Do you have a testimony of God fulfilling a promise to you? I hope that it continues to build up your faith and trust in God. And share your story with others! God may want to use your story to speak to others, and encourage them to trust in God’s faithfulness as well. From the stories in the Bible, we know that God is in the business of using our simple faith to do amazing things. So let’s commit to putting our trust in God, whose faithfulness is far beyond anything we can ask or imagine.