Fear Not!

“It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed."—Deuteronomy 31:8

It has often been said that the most repeated command in Scripture is “do not fear!”—which is entirely appropriate, because we are a people that are naturally fearful. The only problem is we are fearful of what we shouldn’t be fearful of and what we should be fearful of, we’re not. We are a backwards people.

In today’s passage, the nation of Israel is standing at the threshold of the Promised Land. They had been forced to wander in the wilderness for the past forty years because of their failure to take God at His Word before to enter in and take the Promised Land. It was the end of the forty years period and they were ready to enter. But before that, Moses, in one of his last acts of leadership speaks to the people telling them not to fear. He wanted them to understand it was the LORD who went before them. They had refused to trust in God the first time, but this time before taking the land, they must know that God would in fact go before them and not only would He go before them, but He would be with them every step of the way. He promised to go before them, be with them in the midst of it, and wouldn’t leave them through the entire thing. What a precious promise!

All too often we are too afraid to do what God has us to do! All too often we let our fear of man dictate our acts of faith! This cannot be! We need to remember that if we’re children of God, God is for us! As Paul wrote, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”—Romans 8:31. Or as the Psalmist wrote, “…in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?”—Psalm 56:11.

We must take God at His Word, “Fear not!” We should not fear man, but God! What can man do to us? Yes, man can mock, hurt, and harm us physically, he can even kill us. But he cannot harm us spiritually. He is not the one who can send our soul to hell. Only God can do that! As Jesus said, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell”—Matthew 10:28. We must not fear man, but God! As Moses wrote, “You shall fear the LORD your God. You shall serve Him and hold fast to Him, and by His name you shall swear”—Deuteronomy 10:20. And Isaiah, “But the LORD of hosts, Him you shall honor as holy. Let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread”—Isaiah 8:10.

He is the only one whom we are to fear, because He is the sovereign Lord of all who gave His Son to redeem us from our sin! Or as the Psalmist put it, “If You, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness, that You may be feared”—Psalm 130:3-4. He is the one who holds our hearts in His hand and if He is for us, then what can man do? God desires that we take great steps of faith in His name in order that He might be seen in and through us! Do not fear, my brother or sister! Do not fear man! Fear God and live your life in the knowledge that we are

“…more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”—Romans 8:37-39. Amen.