Luke 1:
‘… Mary was thoroughly shaken … But the angel assured her, ‘Mary, you have nothing to fear’
There are times in most of our lives when we find ourselves in shock over some experience or other. Maybe we or a loved one has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Or, with the recession have been made redundant from work and as a result have no idea how we are going to make ends meet financially, how we are going to continue to pay the mortgage. Shock can be such a debilitating experience and when we are in that place God speaks into our hearts as He did Mary’s and says: ‘Fear not’.
Mary would have been very familiar with the teaching of the Old Testament and in the light of this I wonder if the words of Isaiah 43 came to her mind:
‘When you are in over your head, I’ll be there with you.
When you are in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you are between a rock and a hard place, it wont be a dead end –
Because I am God, your personal God,
The Holy of Israel, your Saviour.
(v. 2-3 Msg. Para)
…
‘So don’t be afraid: I’m with you.’ (v.5)
The interesting thing to me here is not that Scripture says: ‘If you go through … If you are in a tough place …’ but … ‘WHEN’ … ‘WHEN you go through …’
The truth is bad things happen … difficulties do come … we do experience hard times. It is all part and parcel of the reality of life. BUT, when they do come God says: ‘Fear not’ Why? Because ‘He is with us’ in it.
Isaiah 43: 5 ‘Fear not, for I am with you’ NIV
Isaiah 43: 5 ‘So don’t be afraid: I’m with you.’ Msg Para
Major Glad Ljungholm
Divisional Candidates Officer
Liverpool
Needed to read that just now Glad, thanks.
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