Tag Archives: Isaiah 41

Reacting to fear…

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The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

(Ps 23)

“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. Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O little Israel, for I myself will help you”, declares the Lord, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

(Isa 41.13&14)

This is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins…If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us… There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear…

(1 Jn 4.10,15&18)

The valley of the shadow is the natural home of fear, the habitat of malice and evil. In shadowy places, we feel vulnerable and cannot see what might be pressing close around to threaten us. Fear comes when I feel unsafe, when I or those I love am threatened in any way. Fear is defeated when the threat is revealed to be weaker than I thought, or when something stronger than the threat is discovered which will act to overcome it on my behalf.

In this world of broken beauty, where sin continues to exist, we are all vulnerable and will suffer in many ways. But the gospel teaches me that for all who are safely hidden with Christ, nothing can actually deprive them of that which matters most for eternity – the love of God and our inheritance in glory. The testimony of God’s saints down the generations is that no matter what else it touches, evil cannot touch my salvation. In this overarching view of our lives, it is clear that God’s perfect love for us has the power to drive out all that causes us to fear. But on a day-to-day basis, I know that I continue to be afraid – what am I to do with that fear?

I was recently deeply encouraged to realise that I don’t need to feel guilty about feeling fear.. that may sound foolish, but am I the only one who gets cross with themselves because my knowledge of God’s perfect love somehow doesn’t stop me getting fearful? Surely our faith is in the ongoing work of God in our lives, and like everything else, our fearfulness – a legitimate response to real threats – is actually part of how we are made, a useful tool if we know how to use it, in navigating life with our Lord’s power and presence. It doesn’t mean that I don’t believe in God’s perfect love for me! It is in the very perfection of that love that my hope lies – for my fears as well as for every other aspect of my life until I go home to glory and am fully perfected myself. My God is patient, and knows how I am formed. My Lord knows what it is to be human, to grieve, to fear, to hurt, to hunger, to agonise over the trials of loved ones – all the deepest travails of humankind are held continually up for the compassionate and unfailing love of the Father to be met.

Since then I AM loved perfectly, my ‘fear-reaction’ becomes a spur by which I am driven to meditate on the love and trustworthiness of God, to remember that Christ meets me in my troubles and has known human suffering. IN all the muddly mess of my reactions to threats and grievous wrongs, I am met by God’s loving kindness, patience and understanding. Is this not good news for fearful souls like me?! Fear becomes a means of blessing to me, so its power is stripped away and I am released to walk on in faith. Throughout scripture we find exhortations to God’s people not to be afraid – our frail humanity is met with such gentleness, and never condemnation, only the encouragement to step out in faith and prove God!

Great Shepherd, I do believe your powerful presence is with your people in all their daily walk, and in the darkest valleys which they may walk. I want to walk fearlessly, but I know all too well that my fear erupts spontaneously and can be so hard to combat.. Let me not give up hope of learning to cling to you in my troubles, in such faith and dependence on your love that the fear is drained of its poison and blinding power, and I can indeed walk on, in your strength and your victory over evil. You will deliver me through all my dark valleys – whether I walk, or crawl, or am carried in your strong arms!

Where are my wells?

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The angel of the Lord found Hagar.. and he said,..”go back to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel added, “I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count.”

…God said to Abraham, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant… I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring.” Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the desert of Beersheba. When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bow shot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there nearby, she began to sob.

God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink…

(Gen 16.9&10; 21.12-19)

But you, O Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham my friend, I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand….the poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the Lord will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs.

(Isa 41.8-10, 17&18)

On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”

(Jn 7.37&38)

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful..

(Heb 10.23)

Hagar, servant of Sarah, concubine to Abraham, mother of Ishmael, suffered greatly at the hands of those who could and should have known better. Abraham and Sarah, in their abuse of Hagar, did not honour the God whose call they had obeyed and whom they worshipped. God showed grace and compassion to Hagar, as the mother of Abraham’s first son, she entered a relationship with a covenant keeping God and this long story shows that faithfulness of God’s character at work. In all the machinations of Sarah, and complaisance of Abraham, yet God was at work for good for this slave woman and her unwanted child. And when the crisis came, Hagar found that God intended to do for her all that he had promised.

I was greatly moved by this story when it was preached in our church last week, as we were encouraged to recall that we too are those who have received God’s promises. As his chosen ones, called through Jesus to be his children, we are the object of his love and it is his purpose to bring us to glory. While the world may leave us tired and vulnerable, and those close to us may hurt or neglect us, yet God is at work and cannot be thwarted.

Friends, are you, like me, oppressed and feeling as though life is a desert? Can you see only the death of your hopes and no purpose in carrying on? Let me encourage you to be like Hagar, to cry aloud in your distress and to listen for the voice of the Lord who has promised that he will quench your thirst abundantly.

This way is the one in which God is leading and calling you. This, therefore, is the place in which he will sustain and bless you. This way is the one where you will find wells, springs of refreshment. There may only be small springs, rations for each day’s journey – but herein lies the challenge of faith. Will I accept today’s refreshment and trust for tomorrow’s, even though I may not see it yet? Will I choose to follow and rejoice, one day at a time?

What wells lie in your way today? As you cry to your Father who sees all things, what will he give for your thirst? Perhaps a song, or piece of music which brings His faithfulness to mind and allows you to express worship and trust, or to lament and lay your burden before him. Perhaps the companionship of a fellow traveller with whom you can share your situation, and whose own burdens you can lift to God in prayer. Perhaps an opportunity to serve, to use the gifts you have for the blessing of another. Perhaps a fresh awareness of his power and majesty in creation.

May we learn to trust him more fully for our daily needs, and to journey in faith, like Hagar. May we see the wells which God’s goodness has provided, and having drunk deeply, go on.