Fear Not

“And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.”

 

Revelation 1:17-19  

 

When we are caught off guard or are taken by surprise its not unusual for us to become frightened. That’s what happened to the apostle John on the island of Patmos. Revelation 1:9 sets the stage, “I, John, am your brother and your partner in suffering and in God’s Kingdom and in the patient endurance to which Jesus calls us. I was exiled to the island of Patmos for preaching the word of God and for my testimony about Jesus.”

John was writing to his “partners in suffering”, fellow believers who were being persecuted for sharing Jesus Christ as God’s only means of salvation. You recall that John was isolated on the island of Patmos, put there by the Roman emperor Domitian to torture him. The torture, believe it or not was the isolation itself. Just like solitary confinement is considered the harshest form of treatment for anyone who is incarcerated in prison, being isolated from other Christians was considered by Domitian as the cruelest from of torture for the last remaining living apostle, John.

Domitian thought all followers of Christ had a death wish for the Bible says, “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord” and the last thing the emperor wanted to do was to fulfill a wish for any Christ follower so he did what he thought would drive the apostle John insane. He would isolate him away from everyone he loved and cut him off completely from His life’s mission, to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.

What Domitian didn’t understand and what the coronavirus can’t do to us is found in Romans 8:38-39 which says, “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord”. That’s a great bible verse to put to memory for the days in which we are living. Ever since this global pandemic began I have found myself recalling to my own mind the sage advice of Pastor Chuck Smith who would often say, “Never trade what you do know for what you don’t know”. Those words have never proven to be more true than this past year as fear and worry have spread even faster than the coronavirus itself.

 Are you stressed out today? Are you feeling more afraid, a little more anxious than yesterday? If so just know you make up the majority not the minority. Take Pastor Chuck Smith’s advice and don’t trade what you do know for what you don’t know. Don’t forget that we have the sure Word of prophecy that lays out for us clearly how life began and how life as we know it on earth will end. Prophecy is history told in advance and the plan of God that has been unfolding day by day since the world began is right on schedule just as God said it would. Let me just say for the record, the Coronavirus is not, and I repeat is not how our story ends. At least not for those who place their hope and trust in God.  

Hope, the hope the Bible speaks of is powerful because our hope is not going to be realized by a cure for any disease. Our hope is in God Himself. And if the good news couldn’t get any better it does. Just like John discovered on the island of Patmos, my hope for you today is that even in these uncertain days we are living where we feel like we have been cut off from family and friends and our normal routines of every day life, we are never cut off from God. When John was alone there on the island of Patmos, Jesus came to Him and just like Jesus was with John, even when we feel isolated and alone, Jesus is with us to give us hope, to remind us to keep looking forward, as the best is still yet to be!

 

“But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.”

 
Isaiah 40:31

 
I LOVE YOU!