Distance Devotions        –        April 13, 2020

Isaiah 41:10                   –        I Am Thy God

Isaiah 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

The first mention of the words, fear not, are recorded in Genesis 15, when the Lord was speaking comfort to Abraham after the battle to free his nephew, Lot and his family, from the captivity into which they had been taken.  From that focal point in time, the Lord has often spoken to His people, these words, Fear not, for I am with thee.  These words help to anchor us and strengthen us in our trials.   Fear is a powerful emotion.  Some of us have a phobia of snakes or other things.  Every parent knows the strength of fear when they first let the teen in the family take the car to go out.  Our hearts are often smitten with fear as our children do not always follow us in our faith in Christ.  Fear is present though our Lord wants us to not allow it to drive us and consume our thoughts.

Go through the next several chapters in Isaiah, from chapter forty one to at least chapter forty-eight, and note the many times that God speaks in comforting terms:  I will…I am…I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.  See the difference?  It is one thing to tell me fear not, but something altogether different to tell me do not fear because I am with you.  I am immediately encouraged in a way that I would not be without His presence.  All that we can possibly need, all we can possible want, all that we will ever need is bound up in His presence and He has promised to be with us.  Fear not for I am with thee!  Be of good cheer, dear Christian, He has never lost a single child in all of history and He will not start now.

Pastor F. J. Weems III