“Fear Not, for I Am with You”
Unfortunately, there are those who are really struggling right now. They are asking themselves things like, “will I be able to keep my businesses open?” What about hourly workers who are not able to work right now? What about loved ones in nursing homes who can’t be visited? Who’s going to watch the kids with schools and day cares closed? There are many unknowns that are causing a lot of folks to battle with anxiety right now. There are a lot of challenges. The good news for the Christian, though, is that one way or another God will get us through this. He is with us. Nothing happens apart from His will. He’s got things under control. There is no need to fear. God said through His prophet to the people of Judah: “‘Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand’” (Isa 41:10 NKJV). He will do the same for Christians today (see also: Ps 145:17–20; 91:14–15; Isa 26:3; Phil 4:6–7).
We are engaged in spiritual warfare. The devil is our enemy, but God is with us. And “if God be for us,” asked Paul, “who can be against us?” Nobody and nothing, not even the devil, but that doesn’t mean that he won’t try. And it’s when we are struggling, when we are hurting, when we are worried that he can come along and, if we let him, take advantage of the situation and cause us to doubt. It is especially at times like this that we must be watchful and vigilant and resist the devil; “resist the devil, and he will flee from you,” says James 4:7.
If we are with God, He is with us. That is not one of those, “I think it’s this way,” kind of statements. He has promised that He “will never leave us nor forsake us.” Jesus said, “and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” And there has never been a time since time’s beginning when God has ever failed to do a single thing that He has promised. But, let’s be sure that we are on the Lord’s side. “Who is on the Lord’s side?” asked Moses when he came down off the mountain in Exodus 32. Let’s be sure that we could answer in the affirmative if the same question was asked of us today.
Things get hard sometimes. You know that as well as I do, but Christians have a Helper the world does not know. We have a hope the world does not share. I can understand why someone without God to turn to or faith to steady him might be fearful at a time like this, but not the faithful Christian. Our Father is greater than all, and certainly greater than any virus. So, let us not be afraid, but rather, let us trust God when He tells us, “I am with you.”
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