“Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation.”
(Isaiah 12:2)
We are all afraid at times and must go searching for promises. However, God does not want us to live lives of constant fear. He does not want us living from one fear to the next. He wants us instead to live as “more than conquerors” (Romans 8:37) Faith that does not flinch when the bad news comes is what gets the world’s attention. We may call it prevenient faith, trusting ahead of fear. That is what Isaiah describes. It is also what David described in Psalm 46:
Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
(Psalm 46:2–3)
I want to call us to a higher peak in our faith during this time of uncertainty and fear. I want to call you to put your trust in God first that you might be overcomers rather than mere survivors. Look at the difference it will make in the same areas mentioned previously.
Past Guilt
Take God at his word that he has forgiven all your sins in Christ; that Christ’s substitution was entirely sufficient and that no other sacrifice for sins remains (Hebrews 10:26). If you will, then you will walk through life more confidently. When those old sins of the past accuse your conscience, then you can face them unafraid, saying “My Savior has paid my account in full; I owe you nothing.” You may be convicted of sin, but can no longer feel guilty after you confess it.
If you have faith in Christ, your sin has been paid for and you are a beloved child of God. Therefore, you don’t have to be hesitant to ask God not only for his protection in times of pandemic but also for his courage to bear witness to the hope you have in him. Living in the shame of past guilt doesn’t reveal humility; it reveals that you don’t believe Christ’s work is as sufficient as he says it is. Trust first, then fear no more.
Present Loss
Trust God’s provision for all of your needs first and then say goodbye to any more fear of material loss. Spurgeon relates that Bernard Pallisy, the famous potter, was just such a man. He was imprisoned for his faith by King Henry III of France, but he was not killed because of his skill. One day the King told him that if he would recant his faith, he would be compelled to release him. Pallisy answered, “You have said that you pity me, but I pity you. Though I am a poor man, no one can compel me to do wrong, but you say you can be compelled. Those are kingly words you utter! Though I am poor, I am very rich.” Then with a hand full of clay he said, “I have heaven and earth.” Because he trusted, he was not afraid.[1]
Trust your sovereign God first, and nothing can ultimately harm you.
Future Death
The ultimate litmus test for whether one has placed all of his trust in the sovereignty of God is the way he faces death. You can talk a bold faith game all of your life, but its reality will not be proven until you realize you are going to die. I have never faced that myself, so I can’t speak with great authority. My only source of experience is a decade of watching people receive fatal diagnoses and then walking with them to their grave. Some who appeared quite bold in their faith before, crumbled when they received the news, questioned the goodness of God, and frantically tried to prolong earthly life. Others who would not necessarily catch your attention before, revealed that their faith in God was unshakable even by death.
Over the years I have tried to describe that with terms like “counterintuitive faith.” That was the faith of Abraham when he marched his only covenant son Isaac up Mt. Moriah to offer him as a sacrifice. He did because he reasoned: “God gave me this boy; he said he would make of him a great nation; now he tells me to kill him. Therefore, God is going to raise him from the dead.” He trusted God so profoundly that he reasoned that God was going to do something that he had never done before.
I have also called it “so what faith.” That was the faith of Daniel’s friends, who told Nebuchadnezzar that their God could deliver them from his fiery furnace, but even if he did not, they were not going to worship his statue. If they died, then “so what,” they would still trust God.
Martin Luther King, Jr. said in 1963, “The minute you conquer the fear of death, at that moment you are free. I submit to you that if a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.”
At the beginning of Spurgeon’s great sermon on fear, he told a story about a husband and wife aboard a ship in the midst of a storm. The woman was terrified while her husband was at perfect peace. When she asked him how he could be so calm, he rose up and put a sword to her chest. She did not flinch. Then he asked her why she wasn’t afraid, “It is sharp and could pierce your heart in an instant.” She replied, “But it is in your hands.” The man then said, “That is why I am not afraid. The storm is in my Father’s hand and he loves us more than even I love you.”
No matter what you face in this life, it is all in your Father’s hand. When you are afraid, trust him. But strive first to trust him, and not be afraid.[2]
Prayer
As a beloved child of God, go to the Lord in prayer, asking him for specific concerns you have regarding your own well-being as well as the well-being of your loved ones and our city.
For more opportunities to pray and serve, please visit https://www.2pc.org/covid-19-response/.
[1] “Fearing and Trusting; Trusting and Not Fearing” in Classic Sermons on Overcoming Fear.
[2] Spurgeon, 20.