Judges 4:18 (NASB20) And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, "Turn aside, my master, turn aside to me! Do not be afraid." So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug.
This is the first passage in this study where we see someone’s fear being used against them. Sisera was fleeing from Deborah and Barak. He was afraid of being captured or killed, and he found someone that he thought he could trust to hide him. It turned out that he trusted the wrong person and his fear allowed him to be misled into a situation that cost him his life.
Has there ever been a time in your life where you were afraid and ended up trusting someone you shouldn’t have just because you were looking for some sort of relief from your fear?
What seems to be happening more and more these days is that people are causing fear in others and then those same people are turning around and trying to make everyone think that they are the ones that should be trusted to give relief from the fear that they themselves caused. It’s a vicious cycle of deception, and we need to be wise in both what we fear and who we trust for our relief from fear.
God tells us over and over again not to fear, but to trust in Him. If we are afraid of anything, then we need to surrender that fear to God. Likewise, if we are seeking relief from fear, we should be turning to God for that relief — and certainly not to people who would benefit from the irrational decisions that fear might cause us to make.
Sometimes fear can push us straight into the hands of our enemies, and our reactions to fear can lead us straight into the outcomes that we are afraid of.
Do not be afraid, but trust in the Lord!
Judges 6:23 (NASB20) But the LORD said to him, "Peace to you, do not be afraid; you shall not die."
This verse is from the story of Gideon when he was visited by the angel of the Lord. The angel told him what God had planned for him, and then Gideon asked him for a sign. When the angel showed Gideon the sign — by consuming the meal with fire — Gideon exclaimed that he had seen the angel of the Lord face to face. Then the Lord told him not to fear, and that he shall not die.
This type of interaction seems to be common throughout the Bible. When the angel of the Lord appears to someone, their first response is surprise, or even fear, and the first thing the angel says to the person, or people, is “do not fear.”
I can imagine that it would be quite startling, and perhaps overwhelming, to be visited by the angel of the Lord. And I can understand why God would have to say something like “calm down, I’m not going to hurt you,” or — more literally — “do not fear, you shall not die.”
God does speak to us in many different ways, and, while He does want us to fear Him in the sense of awe and reverence, He does not want us to be afraid of Him in ways that might make us flee or hide from Him.
How do you think you would react if the angel of the Lord appeared to you?
Ruth 3:11 (NASB20) "So now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you whatever you say, for all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence.
This passage is from the story of Ruth, where she goes to Boaz on the night of the harvest festival and shows her willingness to marry him by laying down at his feet.
I’m sure that doing this took quite a level of courage on Ruth’s part. There’s the general sense of not wanting to get rejected, but there’s also the risk of being misunderstood — and, perhaps especially for Ruth, not knowing exactly what might happen next since she was not Jewish, and might not have been entirely familiar with this custom.
Boaz, ever the generous and gracious host, assures Ruth not to fear, and that he only intends to honor her. This must have been a great moment of bonding and trust building between Ruth and Boaz. It’s very intimate, and a great example of the rewards that can be won if we are willing to risk putting ourselves out there in order to build relationships with others.
Remember that Jesus is our redeemer, and he wants us to lay our lives down at His feet. It might seem strange to us, or cause us some level of anxiety to do that because we might not be entirely sure what will happen next, but there is no one that we can trust more than the Lord. And the intimate bonds that we form with Him when we do this will provide fruit for the rest of our lives.
Do not fear, but trust in the Lord!
με αγαπη,
BJ