I am grouping the quotes from the 4 gospels together in this part of the study because Matthew, Mark, and Luke sometimes say the same things, and because all four tell the same story from different perspectives. It just doesn’t make sense to try to split them up and treat them individually for this study. Further, you will see a lot passages quoted that use synonyms of fear – such as worry or anxiety – and I am treating these as part of this study because they still speak to the heart of the matter.
Matthew 1:20 (NASB20) But when he had thought this over, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
Joseph, a man of dreams, is remembered as a faithful, kindhearted man of God who never questioned what God told him to do, but did it immediately – even taking his family and fleeing to Egypt, leaving everything else behind.
Why would he have been afraid to take Mary as his wife? Well, she was found to be with child out of wedlock. Even though he and Mary were engaged, which was basically like being under contract to be married where money would have changed hands – a much stronger bond than what we think of engagement today – she was still to remain a virgin until the night when they consummated their marriage. And the Jews could have stoned her to death – even being pregnant – if he would have formally reported her to them. So when Joseph said he would put her away quietly – he was basically saying that he would spare her life.
Well, take that and think of what they would have done to him if they found out that he married a woman of “ill repute.” They would not have stoned Joseph, but he would have lost any good reputation he had, and would have basically been cut off from the community and left to fend for himself. Joseph must have been worried about any number of things when he found out that his bride-to-be got pregnant without him.
But then God sent an angel to him to tell him not to be afraid. The angel told him that God is in control of the situation, and that things are happening according to God’s will. And that seems to have settled the matter for Joseph. He wasn’t like Gideon, asking for different kinds of proof, and he didn’t rely on his own understanding – because I’m sure part of him was still trying to figure it all out. But the word says that he “awoke from his sleep and took Mary as his wife.” No hesitation, no delay, just pure trust in God.
We don’t get to know very much about Joseph from the scriptures, but what we do get paints the picture that he was a man who trusted God completely, and was never afraid to do what God told him to – no matter how mind-boggling it was. He was faithful, and in his faith he was fearless.
Luke 1:13 (NASB20) But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John.
Zechariah shows us a good contrast to Joseph. Where Joseph might have wanted to ask, “but how,” he did not. Zechariah did, however, and that showed his lack of faith in God. And in order to show Zechariah that God can do all things, He took away one of Zechariah’s physical abilities as proof that He could also restore one.
The contrast between the two men show the difference a few years can make in a man’s life also. Young Joseph did not question God, but just rolled with whatever God gave him. Old Zechariah did question God, and resisted God’s plan for him because he could not understand it.
I can relate to this. When I was a young man I remember making life changing decisions in the moment, and not worrying about it one bit. Now that I’m older I find myself contemplating every step I take more and more. Part of it might be because of lessons learned from the school-of-hard-knocks, but part of it might be because I think I have the wisdom and experience to figure some things out. But we never outgrow the need to trust in God and rely on Him instead of our own understanding.
The angel said that God was answering Zechariah’s prayer, but Zechariah’s hesitation indicates that he had given up praying that prayer a long time ago. God was answering Zechariah in His time, and Zechariah – old, and set in his ways – was having a hard time wrapping his head around it.
Nevertheless, God assured Zechariah with that age old encouragement – “do not be afraid.” No matter how old you are, or how impossible things may seem to you, it’s never too late for God to answer our prayers. We are still His children, and we can always trust in Him.
Luke 1:30 (NASB20) And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
Mary gives us yet another perspective on what it means to trust God. When the angel told her that she was going to conceive a child she was puzzled because she didn’t know how that could be possible. She asked “but how” in a very different way than Zechariah did. Zechariah was married, and knew, physically, what God was talking about – he just didn’t believe God could make their old plumbing work.
Mary, on the other hand, was still a virgin and did not know, physically, how it would be possible since she intended to remain a virgin until her wedding night. If you tell a woman she’s going to get pregnant, I’m sure there are a few thoughts that jump to her mind right away…
Add to that the social stigma attached to being pregnant out of wedlock. As I mentioned before, it could have been as severe as a death penalty for Mary, and I’m sure she was aware of that. She certainly had valid reasons to be afraid of getting pregnant before she was married – not to mention having to tell everyone that the child in her was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and having to put up with the disbelief and scorn that would have brought upon her.
But did she answer like Moses, and say, “what if they don’t believe me, Lord.” Did she answer like Gideon and say, “show me another sign, Lord.” No. She said, “may it be done to me according to your word.” Mary, like her husband Joseph, trusted God without hesitation. What a couple they must have made!
We could all learn a lot from them. If you think your problems and circumstances are hard, look back at the people that God has used in mighty ways, and look at how they trusted God and God took care of them. From Noah and the flood, to Moses in the wilderness, to Jesus on the cross. What lesson can you learn from the faith of Mary and Joseph, and all the rest of God’s beloved children? I hope the first lesson is to trust in God and not be afraid.
Part 2
Luke 2:10 (NASB20) And so the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;
This passage is from the story of Jesus’s birth. When He was born angels appeared to shepherds in the field and told them that a savior was born for them. The scripture says that when the angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them – and the shepherds were terribly frightened.
It seems to be a common theme that when an angel appears to a person, one of the first things they say is “do not be afraid.” I can imagine that seeing an angel standing in front of you, and hearing them speak to you would strike you as something supernatural (beyond natural), and just thinking about it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up; experiencing it would surely get your heart pumping.
And yet, angels are not here to frighten us. They understand that we are afraid, because the realm that they exist in has largely been hidden from us, and they approach us with no ill intent – only to deliver whatever message God has sent them to deliver.
In fact I think that we should more intentionally join together with the angels in worshiping God, and in battling the enemies of God. We should pray that God would send angels to protect us and our loved ones. We should ask God to send angels to worship Him with us. We should welcome angels into our presence – because we will be worshiping God together with them in Heaven, so why not start now.
Angels are our heavenly allies. But we must also pray not to be deceived by Satan. I have heard stories of people who thought they were seeing faceless angels and being blessed by a heavenly visitor only to realize that they were being distracted while their family member was being tormented right next to them. The devil can appear as a beautiful angel. He can appear as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. And we must pray for God to give us discernment so that we will not be deceived by him.
It seems to me that whenever God sends an angel to deliver a message, one of the first things the angel says is “do not fear.” And it also seems to me that one of the main weapons Satan uses against us is fear, so that’s the last thing he would ever tell you. I would say a good test of whether you (if you ever do) are being visited by an angel of God is if the angel says to you “do not be afraid.”
And is that not the message that God Himself tells you over and over again throughout the Bible. Do not fear. Do not be afraid. Trust in the Lord your God with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In everything you do, and in everything you experience, trust the Lord.
Matthew 6:25-34 (NASB20); Luke 12:22-32 (NASB20)“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing? “Look at the birds of the sky, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather crops into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more important than they? “And which of you by worrying can add a single day to his life’s span? “And why are you worried about clothing? Notice how the lilies of the field grow; they do not labor nor do they spin thread for cloth, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!
“Do not worry then, saying, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear for clothing?’ “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you.
“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
This passage records Jesus teaching us to trust God for everything. He points out how much we worry about things, and how the things we worry about are not what life is about. We worry about food and clothing, but Jesus points out that life is about more than just food and clothing. We try to gather and hoard things – like wealth – in the hopes that we will feel secure by doing so. But God did not create us to depend on our stores of wealth, but to always depend on Him – the way everything else that He created does.
We think that we control our life. We think that we dictate what will happen in our life. Sure, we can influence the direction that our life will take. But we cannot say for sure that things will always work out the way we want them to. Often we pursue things that end up not being what we thought they would be. We end up causing ourselves more worry by accomplishing or acquiring the things we set out to worry about at some other time. We think if we had a million dollars then our life would be great and our problems would go away – only to find out that we simply moved into a different realm of worry and suddenly a million dollars is not enough, or it brings with it problems that we did not have before.
So what are we to do? Jesus tells us to “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.” And by seeking God first, everything else that we need will be taken care of and provided to us. Does that mean that we will get everything we want? No. Not in terms of satisfied cravings, and material possessions, and social status. But in terms of what your spirit longs for, YES! In terms of what is actually satisfying and fulfilling to you, YES!
Yes He will feed you, but you will also fast and willingly give up food. Yes He will clothe you, but you will also willingly give your possessions to those in need. Yes He will love you, but you will also love others because He sends you. Yes He will protect you, but you will also willingly lay down your life for your faith.
Your life is not something to be gathered and hoarded. It is a treasure to be spent. And it is not to be spent on yourself only, but to be shared with as many other people as can be blessed by it. Your life was given to you by God, and every day you wake up is one less day you have left on earth. Every day your time here grows shorter, and there is nothing you can do to stop that.
Keep that in mind when you worry about gathering things for the future. Your best time to enjoy what God has given you is now. Your best time to do what God has called you to do is now. You may get the chance to have and do things in the future, but what you can do now, and what you have now, are the only sure things – and even that can change in an instant.
“So do not worry about tomorrow, for each day has enough trouble of its own.” All you have is what you have now. All you can do is what you can do now. And you are still here, so that is obviously enough. What you need to do is not acquire more and make yourself busier. What you need to do is grow in your relationship with God. Store up your treasure in heaven. Loosen your grasp on this life, and strengthen your devotion to God.
Are you afraid of starving? If you die of starvation you can say that you died depending on the Lord.
Are you afraid of suffering? When you die you can say that you were unwavering in your faith.
Are you afraid of being lonely? When you die you will be surrounded by saints for eternity.
Are you afraid of being poor? Make God your treasure and pour out your life as a blessing to others and you will walk on streets of gold for all eternity.
Are you afraid of dying? Well, it’s a part of life that everyone gets to experience. Don’t worry about the first death, but seek God so that you can to avoid the second death. Your first birth was into a world that is perishing, but your second birth was into God’s eternal kingdom, and that is the life that really matters.
Seek God, not by trying to preserve and control your life and your circumstances, but by pouring out everything you can for His glory while you still can. And when you do that you will find that you can trust Him to provide everything you need, and you will have no need to worry or be afraid ever again.
Lord, what’s mine is yours, because it came from you and it will return to you. I pour my life out as an offering, and I only want my life to burn as an offering to you that it may be a pleasing aroma to you my God. As the lit candle melts, so does my life Lord. May you shine the light of your glory through me until my final breath. Amen.
Part 3
Matthew 8:26 (NASB20); Mark 4:40 (NASB20) He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.
This is one of those passages that can have a great impact on you when you come to realize the power of God. But it can also leave you puzzled if you are sympathetic to the disciples in their distress.
I mean you’re in a boat in the middle of the sea, and there’s a raging storm threatening to sink the boat and you with it. And then Jesus speaks and the storm goes away and the sea calms down. Yes I would be afraid, and yes I would be awe struck.
So why the rebuke? Why does Jesus call them men of little faith? Well, if we dig into the cross-references associated with this verse, maybe we can see things a little more clearly from Jesus’s perspective.
Psalm 65:7 says, “Who stills the roaring of the seas, The roaring of their waves, And the turmoil of the nations.”
Job 38:8-11 – when God was talking to Job – says, “Or who enclosed the sea with doors when it went out from the womb, bursting forth; when I made a cloud its garment, And thick darkness its swaddling bands, and I placed boundaries on it and set a bolt and doors, And I said, ‘As far as this point you shall come, but no farther; and here your proud waves shall stop’?”
And those passages show that God clearly has power over the waters. But the passage that really hits me hard in respect to having faith is Isaiah 41:10-14.
‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will also help you, I will also uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ “Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored; Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish. “You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them, those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent. “For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand, who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’ “Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you people of Israel; I will help you,” declares the LORD, “and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
I don’t think Jesus was criticizing the disciples for waking Him up and asking for help. I think He was commenting on the depth of their fear as they did it. It’s as if He was expecting them to face that storm with a sense of peace and calm – praying to God and asking for help – but out of trust and not out of desperation.
The worry and fear must have been palpable on that boat. And, I can’t say that I would react any differently than they did. But Jesus clearly did not feel that way at all, and He clearly didn’t think that the disciples should feel that way either.
God tells us over and over again of His might, glory, power, and sovereignty over all creation. And He also continually tells us of His love, mercy, compassion, provision, protection, and concern for our well-being.
If you know God - if you trust God – then you have no need to worry. That doesn’t mean that you have any power in yourself to rebuke the storm like Jesus did, but you do have all the power to pray for Him to do it, and to trust Him to do it, so there is no reason to ever be afraid or worried.
Jesus saw the disciples’ fear and worry as a direct indication of their level of faith. You can’t have faith and fear at the same time. So, if you are full of fear, then you must be “of little faith.”
I don’t think that Jesus’s rebuke meant that He expected the disciples to rebuke the storm. And I don’t think it meant that He expected them to ride out the storm and suffer through it. Although it could have had something to do with both of those, I think Jesus’s rebuke was aimed at the disciples’ fear being so much greater than their level of faith in that moment, when they knew that God was with them. I think He expected them, of all people, to be able to turn to Him and ask, in a state of faith-filled trust, for Him to save them.
That they woke Him up and asked Him to save them is a clear indication that they did have some level of faith and trust in Him. But His rebuke to them is also a clear indication that they still had a long way to go in the faith and trust department.
The same is probably true for most of us. We may have enough faith to turn to God for help when times get tough. But do we have the level of faith and trust that allows us to turn to him in a faithful and peaceful manner – or is our faith only enough to tell us who to point our fear and desperation at?
This passage cuts deep, and I pray it will bear you much fruit if you venture to study it further. If nothing else, though, you must realize that trusting God is not a surface-level issue. True faith overcomes all fear, and that faith must be ingrained deep down within you. So study your word. Dig in to it and get to know God better and take His promises to heart.
Let your faith in Him conquer all your fear, and your trust in Him overcome all your desperation. Put yourself completely in His hands, and you will find rest for your soul. And I pray this very thing over you.
The Lord bless you, and keep you; The Lord cause His face to shine on you, and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His face to you, and give you peace.’ - Numbers 6:24-26
Part 4
Matthew 10:19 (NASB20); Luke 12:11 (NASB20); Mark 13:11 (NASB20) “But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given you in that hour.
This passage is from Jesus’s instructions to the disciples as He is preparing to send them out on their first mission trip. He told them who to speak to, where to stay, what to take with them. And He also told them that there will be people who oppose them and try to arrest them.
Jesus said that when they are opposed they do not have to worry about what they will say to defend themselves because the Holy Spirit will give them the words to speak in the hour that they need them.
This is one indication of what it means to be a disciple. It means that you are willing to share God’s word with others even at great cost to yourself. Some people will welcome you, some will turn you away, and others will try to stop you. You are to bless those who welcome you, give up on those who turn you away (“shake the dust from your feet”), and put yourself in God’s hands when facing those who try to stop you.
As disciples on a mission, God does not send us out alone. There are times when He tells us to take nothing with us and trust completely in Him for our provision and defense. And there are times when He tells us to be prepared, and sell our cloak to buy a sword.
What does that mean? I think it means that there are times when people will be diplomatic and peaceful in their disagreement with you, but then there are times when they will be cruel and ruthless. When it comes to arguing, God will give you the words to speak, and when it comes to fighting, God will give you strength and skill for the battle. You have to both trust completely in God for everything, and you have to prepare yourself in order to face the greater things He will call you to.
Sometimes God wants us to be an empty vessel that He can fill up and pour out – trusting Him completely. And sometimes He wants us to be a sharp sword that He can wield for His glory – being fearless in His hands. And He wants us to be both.
We have to trust completely in Him for everything, but we are not mere objects for Him to pick up and put down. He created us in His image, and He wants us to grow in our walk with Him so that we can be competent priests and ministers while following Him. We cannot do these things on our own. We can only do them by trusting God completely and fearlessly surrendering our lives into His hands.
Matthew 10:26-31 (NASB20); Luke 12:4-7 (NASB20) “So do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. “What I tell you in the darkness, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim on the housetops. “And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. “Are two sparrows not sold for an assarion? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. “But even the hairs of your head are all counted. “So do not fear; you are more valuable than a great number of sparrows.
This passage is part of Jesus telling what it means to be a disciple. A disciple is not above his teacher. And if they persecute the teacher, how much more will they persecute the students.
After this passage Jesus also says that if we confess Him before people then He will confess us before God. And also that He did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
This passage is rich with encouragement to trust God.
There’s no need to fear men because everything that they think is being done in secret will eventually be found out. That goes for all of us. Jesus even says that what He tells us in secret is to be to told in the light and even from the housetops.
So there are people who try to hide their secrets but will not be able to, and there are those who have hidden knowledge that they need to tell and share with everyone. This goes beyond transparency. This speaks of spreading the truth. If people do not spread the truth then lies and rumors will be all that’s left, and then there will be no trust, and without trust what can result but chaos.
Jesus doesn’t tell us to try to silence anyone who is not speaking the truth. He says that the truth will be revealed. I think that’s significant to us now with all the censorship and “disinformation” that’s going around on the internet. You don’t have to stop people from telling lies. All you have to do is tell the truth, and trust God to do the rest. If more people start telling the truth, then eventually the lies will be revealed. And the light will overcome the darkness.
Jesus tells us not to be afraid of those who can kill us. We are not to fear them because our soul is more important than our body, and they cannot do anything to our soul. God is the judge of our soul, though, and there is an enemy who is trying to get us condemned by God’s judgement so that He can destroy us in hell. It is against the enemy of our soul that we must be the most vigilant - and we do that by trusting God and remaining faithful to Him.
And Jesus reminds us, again, that God values us above His other creatures. It’s not just that God takes care of all His creation, but that He pays special attention to us while doing that. He gave us dominion over the earth, so we have a responsibility. But He also made us in His image, and we are the ones that He made to have fellowship with.
We are to be disciples, trusting our Teacher. We are to follow Him, be devoted to Him, imitate Him, and trust Him. We love Him because He first loved us. And we belong to Him because He created us. He is the only one we actually can trust - there is no other.
Life without God is scary, and disappointing, and discouraging. But God made us for more than that, and He has already provided everything we need to live in joy and peace with Him. We won’t fully experience it in this life, but, in His mercy, He has made it so that our time here is short, and our time with Him will be forever more. So do not fear; surrender your life to God, speak the truth that the Holy Spirit provides for you to speak, and trust in Him always.
Part 5
Matthew 13:22 (NASB20); Mark 4:19 (NASB20); Luke 8:14 (NASB20) “And the one sown with seed among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word, and the anxiety of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
This verse is from the parable of the sower. Jesus says that “the anxiety of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth” cause us not to bear any fruit for God.
How many times have I put off following God until I achieved some worldly goal? How many times have I put off focusing on God’s word because I wanted to achieve some level of “financial independence” first? How many times have I not put God first because of my anxiety over worldly things? That is how much time I have wasted that I could have been following God, trusting Him, resting in Him, and growing in my relationship with Him.
This reminds me of Matthew 6:24-34. You have to choose between serving God or money. Do not be anxious. If you choose God, everything else that you need will be provided for you. And do not worry about tomorrow, for today has enough trouble of its own.
It is the one who chooses God that does not have to be anxious. It is the one who is surrendered to God that does not have anxiety over worldly things. It is the one who serves God that does not fall victim to the deceitfulness of wealth. Whoever loses their life for His sake will find it. And we don’t have to worry about how we will do this for the next 10, 20, or 50 years. All we have to do is focus on following God today - one step at a time, one day at a time. Tomorrow will come, and you will focus on it when it gets here, but not yet.
Have you heard the word of God? Have you received it into your heart? Are you nurturing your relationship with God to grow and bear much fruit in you? If not, what is stopping you? What is it that you are worried or anxious about that is stunting the growth of your relationship with God? Identify it and lay it at the feet of Jesus. Ask Him to help you overcome it. Trust Him to give you a lighter and easier yoke. And trust Him to give you eternal life in heaven, where thieves do not break in and steal, and moth and rust to not destroy the treasure that you have stored up there.
Lay your fears and anxieties at the feet of the Lord, and trust Him to take care of you.
Matthew 14:27 (NASB20); John 6:20 (NASB20); Mark 6:50 (NASB20) But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”
This verse is from the passage about Jesus walking on water.
The disciples, in their boat, were getting tossed around by the waves in the sea. And Jesus, coming from having prayed alone, was walking past them on the water. The disciples saw Him and thought that He was a ghost, and they were afraid.
Notice that Jesus doesn’t criticize their faith this time when He tells them not to be afraid. I suppose that He realized how strange a sight that must have been to them to see someone walking on water in the middle of a storm, and had compassion on them.
Jesus assured them that it was Him, and that they did not need to be afraid, but Peter wanted proof. He didn’t say if it’s You come over here, he said if it’s You tell me to come to you walking on the water.
Peter must have had great faith to even have this thought cross his mind. In the middle of the storm, after having struggled to even stay afloat in the boat, Peter decides it’s a good idea to walk on water because He thought he saw a ghost but it turned out to be Jesus.
And so Jesus says to him, “Come.” And Peter actually does it. He gets out of the boat in the middle of the storm, and walks on water over toward Jesus. To me this shows that Peter had unimaginable faith.
But then what happened? Peter took his focus off of Jesus, and became frightened. And then his fear started to sap his faith, and he began to sink. And he did exactly what we should do - he cried out for Jesus to save him.
And what did Jesus say in response - “You of little faith, why did you doubt.”
There’s that phrase again - “you of little faith.” I mean, I’d say Peter’s faith tank was about 100% full for all but the very end of that encounter, and still Jesus called him “of little faith.”
So what does this mean? Well, maybe it means that Peter was still growing in his faith. Maybe Peter had faith in the moment, but he had not yet developed a deep rooted faith which he would fall back on in times of distress. His faith was strong when he was in control, but as soon as he realized he was not in control his faith began to wane.
I think that’s probably a natural stage for most people to pass through while you are still growing in your relationship with God and building up trust in Him. Some people may be given the gift so that once they are saved they never doubt or fear again. With others it may be a growing process. And I think Peter was learning to trust God in a whole new way through this experience. And maybe Jesus is telling him that he still has a long way to go in terms of trusting Him the way He wants to be trusted.
God wants us to trust Him completely in every moment and every circumstance. There’s no “good enough” when it comes to trusting God. It’s all or nothing; even to death. There’s no holding His hand with one hand and holding the guard rail with the other. When we trust God completely, and surrender completely to Him, then we will live the life that He created us for. It may not be the life we dream of, but it will be the life that we were made for.
So be like Peter in your faith to walk to Jesus across the water, but learn from his mistake and never take your focus off of Jesus. Instead only let your focus on Him become more and more intense, and surrendered, and trusting, and adoring, and loving.
Do not fear, but trust in the Lord.
Matthew 17:7 (NASB20) And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and do not be afraid.”
This verse is from the story of the transfiguration. Jesus took Peter, James, and John up on a mountain and appeared in His glory with Moses and Elijah. Then God spoke to them from a could saying that He is well pleased with His son.
I can’t imagine how intense of an experience that must have been, but Peter, James, and John fell down in fear with their face to the ground. And Jesus touched them to comfort them, and told them not to be afraid.
There are parallels in this story with the story of Israel coming to Mt. Sinai and seeing the cloud of smoke and fire, and hearing God speak to them, and being afraid and telling Moses to speak to God on their behalf.
God’s presence and power are so overwhelming. The only thing that we can even make an analogy of is to imagine if you’ve been in a strong earthquake or hurricane. The power of those events are so immense, and there is nothing anyone can do to stop them. And God is immensely more powerful than that. To stand in His presence and hear His voice must strike terror and give a sense of helplessness the same way an earthquake or hurricane does - but on a different scale altogether.
But Jesus doesn’t play on their fear. Instead He tells them not to be afraid. How many people would use that kind of power, that kind of fear, to rule over people and subjugate people. But God does not use fear against us - even though He can easily terrify us with His presence. Instead God tells us that He loves us, that He will take care of us and protect us, and that we can trust Him.
God is so powerful that He could wipe us out as easily as taking a breath, but He doesn’t. Instead God shows His power by His mercy, and love, and patience. He restrains Himself from exacting justice on us, and instead, in His immense power, He took the punishment for our sins on Himself. He uses His power for mercy rather than justice. He uses His power to serve, and provide, and protect - rather than to be served.
Doesn’t God deserve our praise and worship. He is so good to us. Even though you might wish that He would make something in your life a little easier to bear, the fact that you have not been condemned to destruction should show you that He has already provided everything you really need. Our present troubles are nothing compared to the gift of His mercy - the gift of eternal life in His presence.
It may not always be easy, and there are probably many times when you feel like you can’t, or don’t know how, but all you have to do is trust God. You do not have to be afraid. He has power beyond anything you can imagine. And He uses that power for your good and His glory. You must be strong, have faith, trust in Him, and focus on your eternal life more than your earthly life. Let your hope, and trust, be in the Lord.
Part 6
Mark 5:36 (NASB20); Luke 8:50 (NASB20) But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid, only believe.”
This verse is from the story where Jesus was going to heal the daughter of a synagogue official, and the woman with the bleeding touched His garments and was healed.
After Jesus spoke to the woman, some people came and told the synagogue official that his daughter was dead. But Jesus told him not be afraid, but only believe.
Is it really that simple? Do we only have to believe? Even when the thing we fear the most comes to pass, is belief alone enough?
Jesus continued on to the synagogue official’s house and raised his daughter from the dead. And then He told everyone present not to tell anyone about what happened.
Jesus doesn’t want us to be afraid. He wants us to have faith. And sometimes He wants His answers to our prayers to be kept between us and Him.
Sometimes God’s ways are mysterious to us. In those times we must remember not to lean on our own understanding, but to trust in the Lord with all our heart.
Luke 5:10 (NASB20) and likewise also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear; from now on you will be catching people.”
When Peter first met Jesus, Jesus told him to cast his fishing net into the water. Peter did so, not believing that he was going to catch anything. But then his nets were filled and he had to call for help to haul in the catch.
At that point Peter fell down and told Jesus to go away from him because he did not feel worthy to be in Jesus’s presence. And it says that amazement seized him and all his companions.
The way that Jesus introduced Himself to these men was astonishing. He did something that they could immediately understand as being a miracle. They were professional fishermen and probably had never even heard of someone making a catch like that before.
Not only was it a miracle, but it would have been akin to something like winning the lottery. For a fisherman, that kind of catch would surely have been worth a lot of money - certainly more than they had ever hoped for from a single fishing trip.
This whole encounter would have overwhelmed them with awe and wonder. And at that point Peter recognized that only the Lord could have performed such a miracle, and he felt unworthy of it.
And then, in a single sentence, Jesus changed their entire purpose in life. He told them not to be afraid; to put away their anxiety and insecurity. And then He told them that they had a new job - to catch people. And their response was one of faith - they left everything and followed Him.
Sometimes God calls us out of our past and into our future in bold and overwhelming ways. And these are the times when your family will call you crazy, and you will get criticized, or told that you are being foolish. Other people can’t understand God’s call on your life - and you might not understand His call on theirs. That’s just it, though, we can’t rely on our own understanding. We certainly can’t rely on anyone else’s understanding either. We can only trust God.
Do not fear what the future may hold. Peter probably thought that he was going to be a fisherman for the rest of his life, and that his sons (if he had any) would be fishermen. His plans for the future probably revolved around fishing, and his life was rooted in fishing. And then, one day, Jesus showed up, and Peter caught the biggest catch of his life. And then his life took a sudden turn and fishing was never a very big part of it ever again.
Are you prepared to trust God like that? Are you prepared for God to call you to something completely different than what you know? I don’t think we truly can be prepared for that ahead of time, and it would probably take a miracle to convince us that we should give up everything and follow Him at that time. But do you trust God enough so that you would follow Him anywhere, at any time, into anything? That, at least, is the level of trust in God that we should set our hearts on.
Part 7
Luke 21:34 (NASB20) “But be on your guard, so that your hearts will not be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that this day will not come on you suddenly, like a trap;
This verse if from a passage where Jesus is telling the disciples about the signs of the end times. He told them that there would be signs in the sun and the moon, and people would be fainting from fear. And He said that these signs would be clear indicators of the times - like trees putting out leaves indicating that spring has arrived.
He tells us to be on our guard. These things will cause many to faint with fear, so be on guard so that you do not get surprised or overwhelmed and faint. Instead, know what the Bible says about these things so that you will know how to recognize the signs, and so that you will not be afraid, but instead you will be hopeful that the Kingdom of God is coming.
We do not have to faint with fear. Jesus said not to be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness. Dissipation means something like a hangover. Do not try to drown your fears in substances that will dull your senses. Instead be on guard, be sharp, be alert, be ready. The end of the age is not something for us to be afraid of, but something for us to rejoice in. It may not be easy to go through, but the sign of its coming means that God’s kingdom is coming. There may be trials and tribulations, but there are also God’s promises and God’s plan coming to fulfillment.
Do not be anxious or fearful of these things. Jesus told us about them so that we could be prepared. Pray and ask Him to guide you on how you should prepare, and ask Him to give you peace in your heart, and to strengthen your faith. Put all your fears and anxieties on Him, and trust Him to save you out of this world and into His kingdom.
Matthew 28:5 (NASB20) And the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.
This verse is from the story where the women went to the tomb after the Sabbath to finish preparing Jesus’s body for burial.
Here, again, we have an angel appearing to people, and one of the first things it says is “Do not be afraid.” To me that’s the true sign that an angel is from God. One their appearance is awesome - the kind of thing that might scare you, and two they assure us not to be afraid.
The angel knows that they are looking for Jesus, but Jesus is not there. The angel has been sent, as a messenger, to tell the women that Jesus has risen and what they should do next.
This may be a bit of a side note, but isn’t it wonderful that God included the angels in Jesus’s resurrection too. It’s as if He wanted all of His creation to rejoice and take part in it. That’s the kind of thing a proud papa would do, but I digress…
And then it says that the women left “quickly with fear and great joy.” That doesn’t mean that they fled in terror - that word fear is the awe and reverence kind of fear. How else could you feel fear and great joy. They were overwhelmed, probably both by the fact that they had just seen an angel, and by the fact that Jesus had risen from the dead. I can’t even imagine how they must have felt.
Matthew 28:10 (NASB20) Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go, bring word to My brothers to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.”
And this verse is a continuation from the last. The women were on their way to do what the angel told them to do, and then they met Jesus. His first word to them was “Rejoice!” And they took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.
Jesus also admonished them not to be afraid. I can’t imagine how they must have felt, but how would you feel if you saw someone who had risen from the dead standing in front of you telling you to rejoice? I imagine Jesus saying “Do not be afraid” to them in the same way that the angel had just said it to them. As if to say, I know you probably can’t wrap your mind around this right now, but it’s going to be OK.
Can you imagine what a day those women were having. They started out weeping and mourning, and now they had spoken to an angel and to the resurrected Lord! What must have been going through their minds?!
Always remember that nothing is impossible for God. We always need to keep in mind the awesome and wonderful things that He does. And we always need to keep in mind the fact that He loves us. When He shows us His power and glory, it can be overwhelming. Just remember that we do not need to be afraid when we trust in Him.
Part 8
John 12:15 (NASB20) “DO NOT FEAR, DAUGHTER OF ZION; BEHOLD, YOUR KING IS COMING, SEATED ON A DONKEY’S COLT.”
This passage is a paraphrase of Zechariah 9:9. It is part of a prophesy against Israel’s neighboring nations. In it God is promising to destroy Israel’s enemies and restore Israel. John is showing that Jesus is the fulfillment of this prophesy.
God has been working out His plan for His creation from the beginning. He has been telling people of His plan ever since He created us. That doesn’t mean that we necessarily understand Him, but our lack of understanding does not negate His having told us.
The Jews were expecting a military king like David, but Zechariah clearly says that their king will come being righteous, endowed with salvation, humble, and speaking peace to the nations.
We don’t have to be afraid, because we can trust God. And we can trust God because He knows exactly what He’s doing. He created everything. He has a plan for everything. And He is able to overcome any circumstances that come up along the way.
God didn’t create a fragile house of cards that comes tumbling down the moment something goes wrong. He created a robust ecosystem that is resilient in its ability to adapt to and overcome whatever may happen.
God proves His power, not by showing that He is so much mightier than us, but by showing us that even in what we perceive as total weakness He is able to overcome. Jesus came, not as a master of military tactics, but as a lowly servant who did not lift a finger to defend His life from injustice - and He proved His power by rising up from death and ascending to His throne in heaven.
You don’t have to completely grasp every aspect of God in order to trust Him. I say this because most of the time God does not act in the ways that we expect, or wish, Him to. Instead He handles things in ways that might seem backwards to us, but in which there is no doubting that it was Him who deserves the glory.
We just have to surrender to Him. We have to admit to ourselves that we can’t understand everything. That’s why the Bible tells us not to trust in our own understanding. We just have to know that He created us, and that we can trust Him to use us for His glory. In the end, that’s all that really matters.
So, do not be afraid, but trust in the Lord!
John 14:27 (NASB20) “Peace I leave you, My peace I give you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, nor fearful.
This verse is from the discourse where Jesus told the disciples that He was going to leave them, but that He would send them the Holy Spirit to help and guide them.
What more do we need than the peace that Jesus gives to us through the comfort of the Holy Spirit? Is there a greater peace in this life? If there is, I haven’t experienced it. I have experienced the peace that comes from having God fill my heart, and I have experienced a glimpse of the peace that is to come in heaven, but in this life I haven’t found anything else that even comes close to the peace that comes from surrendering my life to God.
To me that is the biggest benefit of trusting in God, it’s that He gives you a peace that nothing else can compare to. It’s a peace that shrugs off fear, and that desires to serve. It’s not a self-satisfied peace, such as one might expect from having vast amounts of wealth or power. Rather it’s a peace of knowing that this life is temporary and there is a greater peace beyond our current understanding that awaits us for all eternity.
When you put your trust completely in God, not just for your immediate needs, but also for your eternal salvation, then you enter into the peace that Jesus is talking about. When we trust in God, there is no greater peace, and there is no need to fear anything else that happens in this temporary condition that we call life.
Do not fear, but trust in the Lord, and He will give you a peace that is unequaled on earth.
And how do you do that? I think Psalm 46:10 sums it up nicely.
“Be still and know that I am God.”