Confident in the Storm
18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
So you see why this command, ‘Don’t be afraid,’ is one of the hardest of all to keep. Even chastity is reasonably straightforward by comparison. Can you imagine living without fear? I don’t mean the sort of secular ‘fearlessness’ one associates with the heroes of thriller stories or war exploits
Isaiah 51:7
7 “Hear me, you who know what is right,
you people who have taken my instruction to heart:
Do not fear the reproach of mere mortals
or be terrified by their insults.
Isaiah 35:4
4 say to those with fearful hearts,
“Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
he will come to save you.”
1 Peter 3:14
14 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” z
Matthew 10:28
28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Isaiah 57:11
11 “Whom have you so dreaded and feared
that you have not been true to me,
and have neither remembered me
nor taken this to heart?
Is it not because I have long been silent
that you do not fear me?
57 You came near when I called you,
and you said, “Do not fear.”
Haggai 2:5
5 ‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’
4 But now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ declares the LORD. ‘Be strong, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the LORD, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the LORD Almighty. 5 ‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’
1 Peter 3:14
14 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” z
Matthew 10:28
28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Isaiah 43:1
Israel’s Only Savior
43 But now, this is what the LORD says—
he who created you, Jacob,
he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
The men were seized by a great fear and—after he admitted that he was fleeing from the face of the Lord—they said to him: “How could you have done this!” Then they said to him, “What must we do to you, that the sea may become quiet for us, for the sea is more and more tempestuous?”
1. Certainty that God can redeem every broken story, every challenging situation, even the things that seem to be unchangeable for his glory. Every single situation in life is a reminder that God’s heart breaks over this broken world
3. Only God’s word over your life is final.
33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” g
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Ezekiel 2:6-7
5 And whether they listen or fail to listen—for they are a rebellious people—they will know that a prophet has been among them. 6 And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people. 7 You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious.