1 Kings 17:13 (NASB20) However, Elijah said to her, "Do not fear; go, do as you have said. Just make me a little bread loaf from it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son.
Elijah listened to God and pronounced a famine on Israel. Then he lived outside next to a brook until the drought dried it up. Then God told him to move from there and to look for a widow who would provide food for him. He found the widow and asked her for a cup of water and some bread, and she told him that she was preparing a last meal for her and her son.
Then Elijah told her not to fear, but to share, because God would provide for her and her son for the remainder of the famine. Then, just as Jesus multiplied the loaves and the fishes, the widow’s flour and oil were multiplied so that she did not go hungry.
Trusting in God does not mean that we will live fat and happy in a life of luxury. Often, the people that believe in God the most tend to wait on Him until their resources run out and it looks like hope is lost. It’s at those moments when He steps in and provides for all their needs — even in miraculous ways.
I know that I am guilty of saying that I trust in God, but still trying to figure out ways to increase my wealth or pinch pennies. Not fearing means trusting God fully, even to the end. It’s not easy. It is the very essence of fearlessness.
2 Kings 1:15 (NASB20) And the angel of the LORD said to Elijah, "Go down with him; do not be afraid of him." So he got up and went down with him to the king.
This passage is from a very dramatic story. When Ahaziah became king of Samaria he fell and suffered a critical injury. Instead of praying to God he sent a messenger to a different land to inquire of their god Baal-zebub.
Elijah intercepted the messenger and told him what God said — “Is there no God in Israel that you have to inquire of foreign gods? You shall surely die.” Then Ahaziah sent three separate commanders of fifty to bring Elijah to him, and Elijah called down fire on two of the groups of fifty, but the third commander showed that he feared Elijah and then God told Elijah not to fear and to go with him.
Elijah’s obedience to God put him in a lot of dangerous situations. This one was no different. If a king sends fifty of his troops to arrest you, you can be sure that he’s not asking nicely. But Elijah obeyed God, and God protected him. Elijah did not need to fear because he trusted and obeyed the Lord, and when you are fearless in the Lord, He will deliver you from all types of harm.
2 Kings 6:16 (NASB20) And he said, "Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are greater than those who are with them."
This passage is from the story where the king of Aram was getting frustrated because Elisha kept telling the king of Israel what he was going to do before he did it, so he sent his army to capture Elisha. When the army found Elisha they circled the city he was in and his servant became afraid and lost hope. But Elisha told him not to fear because God’s army was with them, and then he prayed that God would show him the angels that surrounded them, ready for battle.
Then Elisha prayed that the army of Aram would become blind and God rendered them helpless. Elisha wasn’t afraid because he knew that God was with him, but he did have to encourage those around him not to fear.
It’s not enough for us not to be afraid, but we must also pray that those around us will not fear, but that God will reveal His glory to them also.
2 Kings 19:6 (NASB20) And Isaiah said to them, "This is what you shall say to your master: 'The LORD says this: "Do not be fearful because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me.
This verse is from the story of a time in the reign of Hezekiah. The Assyrians were fighting against Israel and taunting them. Hezekiah paid a tribute to the king of Assyria of all the silver that was in the temple, and even stripped the gold plating off the doors of the temple to give to him. But the king of Assyria did not leave Israel alone. Instead he sent messengers to taunt the people by telling them that they could defect to Assyria and “eat from their own vine, and drink from their own cistern,” or else they would be trapped and end up eating their own dung and drinking their own urine. They said that no other nation’s gods were able to save them from the Assyrian army, and that the God of Israel would not be able to save them either.
Then Hezekiah tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went into the temple. And he sent his servants to Isaiah and asked if God would hear their taunts against Him (meaning, against God) and avenge Himself. Notice that Hezekiah phrased it in a way that shows he was concerned with God’s honor, not just his own position.
Then Isaiah said that God would defeat the king of Assyria — not by sending Israel to battle, but by striking him down in his own land.
The Assyrians kept taunting Hezekiah and God, and then Hezekiah prayed that God would save Israel — “so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God.”
Then God answered Hezekiah through Isaiah saying that He would put a hook in the king of Assyria’s nose and lead him away — and that a remnant of Judah would “take root downward and bear fruit upward.” And that night an angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 of the Assyrians that were surrounding Jerusalem. And Sennacherib departed and went home to live in Nineveh where he was killed while worshiping in the house of Nisroch.
Hezekiah was not too proud to beg for peace from the king of Assyria. He was even willing to strip the temple in order to buy that peace. But he was also so obviously devoted to God that the Assyrians even taunted God, by telling of how many of the other nations’ gods were powerless against them.
Hezekiah’s focus, and concern, seem to have been on God and His honor. His prayers were not just for God to save him, but for God to also save His own glory. Because of this, God took care of the Assyrians without even involving Israel in the battle.
We do not have to be afraid of anything when we keep our focus on God. God will take care of us. And when others come against us, and see us depending completely on God, they will probably taunt us about that — and inevitably taunt God in the process. Even then let us be like Hezekiah and humble ourselves before God by remembering that our circumstances are directly related to His glory. And let us pray that God’s help for us would result in others knowing that He alone is the Lord, our God.
2 Kings 25:24 (NASB20) And Gedaliah swore to them and their men and said to them, "Do not be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans; live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well for you."
This passage is from the time just after Judah was exiled to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar appointed a governor over the people that were left in Judah named Gedaliah. Gedaliah was faithful to Nebuchadnezzar and so he told the people that they did not need to be afraid of the Babylonians. But then the people of Judah revolted, killed Gedaliah, and fled to Egypt because they were afraid of the Babylonians.
God warned Israel that if they were not faithful to Him that He would hand them over to their enemies. God was patient and endured their disobedience for many generations, but eventually He delivered them over to their enemies.
It wasn’t necessarily pleasant to be in the situation they were in, but the people of Judah were suffering the consequences of the actions of many generations before them. They could have made the best of it, by following Gedaliah and submitting to Babylon, but instead they rebelled and fled in fear.
Life is very dynamic. Our current circumstances are the result of many past actions, whether our own or the actions of others well beyond our control or influence. And our actions today may influence the circumstances of many generations to come. While we should always remain faithful to God, we should also try to make the best of things, and not make things worse for ourselves or those that will come after us.
Judah, now subjected to Babylon, was in a tough spot. But they were there because they, over many generations, got themselves into that position. Instead of repenting and returning to God, what did they do? They rebelled and returned to the very place where their ancestors escaped from slavery.
Israel came out of Egypt by the hand of God, rebelled against God, suffered the consequences of their rebellion, and ultimately fled back to Egypt. The whole time God was telling them not to fear, and not to be afraid, but to trust in Him. But they couldn’t listen to Him or rest in Him. They persisted in falling victim to both their own desires and their own fears.
That’s probably true for just about all of us at different times in our lives. Sometimes it’s easy to trust God — especially when He’s doing great signs and wonders right in front of our eyes. But how quick are we to doubt, and question, and fear when those signs and wonders aren’t so visible or dramatic?
We have to be intentional in trusting God — especially when that’s not an easy thing to do - and we have to be intentional in not fearing. Not just for our sake, but also for the sake of those around us, and for the sake of those who will come after us.
If God is for us, who can be against us? Do not fear, but trust in the Lord.