ETERNITY

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Do Not Be Afraid

~ Our loving, faithful, and powerful God will never leave us, so we need not succumb to fear.

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 41:9-10

Throughout the Bible, God’s messengers and prophets tell His people to resist fear. Phrases like “Do not be afraid!” and “Don’t be anxious or worried!” abound. It’s enough to make us think perhaps the world is the safe and comfortable place we’re always dreaming it could be. With all these commandments not to be afraid — often backed up with the promise that God is with us — we might start to feel invincible.

But a closer look tells a different story. To whom did God say these words?

• To Hagar, the abused slave, alone with her young boy and about to perish in the desert. She wasn’t safe. Her life was in shambles. But God saw her.

• To the Hebrew slaves, mistreated for generations, now facing the terrifying reality of spending their life in the wilderness.

• To the exiles who watched their cities destroyed, only to be carried away to their conqueror’s homeland. God promised return — but not for 70 years, a full lifetime.

None of these people were safe, and most of them never would be. Yet God said, “Do not be afraid.” He says this to us today, too, amid our own grief. Though the suffering may not pass, God’s love and faithful presence will never leave our side.
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~ published by: In Touch Ministries

https://www.intouch.org/read/daily-devotions/do-not-be-afraid






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