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"But what about our shaky future?"

 

A thought by David Jeremiah, from his book, Hope: Living Fearlessly in a Scary World (p. 5). Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)

Maybe you feel your future is shaky.

David said, "Pessimism doesn’t work, because it’s another form of mental enslavement. Optimism may have no basis in reality. The one way to walk with hope and confidence into an unknown future is to stake everything on the power and goodness and faithfulness of God."


He goes on, "To understand why God is the answer to all our fears, we must understand what the Bible says about fear. And it says a lot. It tells us more than three hundred times not to fear. 'Fear not' is its most frequently repeated command. The word afraid occurs more than two hundred times, and fear more than four hundred. And lest you think our Bible heroes were fearless, more than two hundred individuals in Scripture are said to have been afraid. And not all these were the 'bad guys'; many were the main characters—David, Paul, Timothy, and others.

"Biblical heroes were regular people who had to learn the same things you and I have to learn—to drive out fear by increasing their knowledge of God, to shift their focus from their present fear to their eternal hope, to replace what they didn’t know about the future with what they did know about Him. They had to put away childish things (being afraid of everything) and grow up in their faith and understanding."

He continues, "I wrote this book because I see fear as a real and present danger in the body of Christ. Many Christians are not living lives free of fear, and there can be serious consequences when hope is absent.

"Jesus came to 'proclaim liberty to the captives,' and I believe that includes those held captive by fear (Luke 4:18). He also says that truth is the key to freedom (John 8:32). And here is the truth: God is good (Psalm 119:68), God is love (1 John 4:8, 16), and God has a future filled with hope for His children (Jeremiah 29:11; Romans 8:28-29). God is a refuge and a fortress, a shield and a defender for those who trust in Him (Psalm 91:2-4). For those reasons, and more . . .

You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you. PSALM 91:5-7"

He then says, "As you read this book, my prayers are that you will grow in your conviction that God is the answer to all your fears, that as you look to the future you will see nothing except His power and love guarding your every step, and that you will find the truth that sets you free to live the hope-filled life God created you to enjoy."

And we need to do that, don't we? Yes, yes! #continuethought

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