Do not fear.

“I called on your name, O Lord,

from the depths of the pit;

you heard my plea, ‘Do not close

your ear to my cry for help!’

You came near when I called on you;

you said, Do not fear!’

Lamentations 3:55-57

Timely words for any time my heart is afraid. I’m trusting God when things seem impossible or overbearing or out of my control. Fear is always around the corner... and not the creepy horror show kind of fear. That’s nothing... it won’t happen. I won’t get jumped by killer clowns or shadow monsters. But what is real is the fear that follows in sin’s wake. The broken system we live in that we inevitably trust in will let us down. That makes me at times afraid to trust anything. My own failures (rooted in by broken sinfulness) will lead me to fear.

Jeremiah wrote these words as Jerusalem burned in ruin around him. And even before then, as the rejected prophet, he literally prayed from the bottom of a muddy cistern where he was being punished and imprisoned. He pleaded with God from the depths of this emotional pit. And God came near when he called on Him with three words of strength: DO... NOT... FEAR.

Lord,

I’m comforted by Your words of encouragement... Do not fear. I am going to pray hard for my life today to apply this truth. You know what is going on. You know I can fixate on the future and start to fear. You know I can wallow in past failures and then fear. But I will trust that You are near me now and I will believe that You can bring relief. I will not fear.

Amen