Do Not Be Terrified, Do Not Be Troubled

You [the Israelites] may say to yourselves, “These nations are stronger than we are. How can we drive them out?” But do not be afraid of them; remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt. You saw with your own eyes the great trials, the miraculous signs and wonders, the mighty hand and outstretched arm, with which the Lord your God brought you out. The Lord your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear. Moreover, the Lord your God will send the hornet among them until even the survivors who hide from you have perished. Do not be terrified by them, for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God. (Deuteronomy 7:17-21, NIV 1984).

My Musings – The Israelites’ journey to the promised land was not without obstacles and hardships. Many of the self-inflicted. The same is true about our journey to our “promised land.” Jesus’ message to us is much the same. “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33, NIV 1984). And just like the Israelites, a lot of our trouble is self-inflicted. Trouble that could have been avoided.

“There will be times [we will] want to quit. There will be times [we will] feel it’s too hard. But there will never be a time God isn’t there.” (author unknown). Because Jesus promised, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor [Comforter] to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans.” (John 14:16-18, NIV 1984).

And this certainly is a comfort. For, “there will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5, NIV 1984).

Jesus describes these days as a time of “great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.” (Matthew 24:21-22, NIV 1984). But, even in this we can “take heart” because He has indeed “overcome the world.”

My Advice – So, you had best be one “of the elect.” For the Israelites back then, the Lord [their] God, who [was] among [them], is a great and awesome God. ” For the elect of today, “the one [the Comforter] who is in [them] is greater [and more awesome] than the one who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4, NIV 1984).

So, do not be troubled or afraid. “Peace I [Jesus] leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27, NIV 1984).