Be Not Afraid....

Somewhere tucked in among all my books and notes, there is a small scrap of paper that says this:  You are not to fear anything, whether physically, emotionally, financially, or spiritually.  This "word of the Lord" came to me forcefully in 2009 while I was in prayer one day.  While I do not recall the exact day or month, I do recall the year, for it was given to me some months before I discovered that I had lung cancer in early 2010.

Now, here is the strange thing:  The Word of the Lord accomplishes with power, strength, and force what it says.  Those words came to me "out of the blue," not something I reasoned to or determined to do in my own mind.  And they DID in me what they SAID to me.  I felt in my spirit from that moment a freedom from all fear.  It was not just a command; it was "done" in me when I heard the words -- as Mary said, "Let it be done unto me according to Your Word."

Imagine my surprise, not to mention the surprise of my doctor and friends, when I heard the words, "I think this is cancer," and I felt absolutely no fear or anxiety whatsoever.  Someone said to my daughter: Your mother thinks this is okay!  I cannot explain to anyone why it was "okay," but it was.  I knew that my life was in the hands of God, and whatever happened, it was okay.

The Word of God is living -- not dead--- and active -- not inert.  It is not "empty chatter" or "wishful thinking."  It is not small talk to make us feel better. Nor does it tell us to do something without giving us the wherewithall to fulfill what it commands.

The Old Testament prophets were always saying, "The Word of the Lord came to me, saying...."   The Word is alive, active, moving, energizing, doing!  The Word is God Himself, expressing and revealing His Pronouncement, His Plan, His Power, His Promise, His Purpose, and His Provision to accomplish all that it reveals.

Isaiah 55 says this:

"...My thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord.

 

"As the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,

and do not return to it

without watering the earth

and making it bud and flourish,

so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

 

It will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire

and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

 

It is good to dwell on the analogy -- imagine the rain or snow coming down and not watering the earth.  It is incomprehensible, nonsensical.  Rain does what it comes to do and cannot come without watering the earth.  So, too, the Word of the Lord.  When it comes to us, it does what it says.  This is why we jump for joy upon receiving -- truly receiving, not just reading -- the word of the Lord.  We know God has spoken to us, and we know that the Word will be accomplished in us as it was in Mary.

 

Someone once counted up all the "Be not afraid" messages in Scripture.  I'm sorry now that I did not write down and save the total, but it was pretty amazing.  God does NOT want us to be afraid; fear cripples and paralyzes us.  We cannot be the people He wants us to be if we live in fear.  The Book of Timothy says, "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love, and of sound mind."  I recently heard a young woman on death row quote this Scripture, and I have to say, it was pretty impressive to hear that coming out of her mouth in these circumstances.  But her radiant confidence was a testimony to the power of those words in her spirit.  She, clearly, was not afraid of the days to come. 

 

Proverbs 31 says of the "Valiant Woman:"  She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come."  It is possible to "laugh" at the days to come only when we are not afraid of what is coming -- spiritually, financially, physically, emotionally.  And it is possible not to be afraid only when the Word of Lord has accomplished in us what it says.

 

If we are to hear what God speaks to us, we must begin in prayer, in communion with Him, for how can we hear if we are not listening?  The table is laid for us, but if we refuse to approach the Table of the Lord, we must be satisfied with whatever crumbs we can gather from the world around us.