304. Fear Nothing
Ezekiel 34:28 And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid.
The Father and Jesus and angels very often speak these words to humans: “Fear not!” This is more than a wish or a command. It is a truth: there is nothing and no one to fear. “Perfect love casts out fear.” Perfect love is simple faith in Jesus, for He gives to us, and He is for us, perfect love. The truth is that when we fear God above all things, then we have nothing to fear. The problem is that we cannot keep this First Commandment.
If we truly feared God, which means, “Believe God,” we would really have no fears, worries, anxieties, doubts or frustrations. It is, of course, impossible for human beings to live without fear. Fear is an endemic characteristic of the human condition, at least since the Fall into Sin. But all impossible things are possible for God. He sees “No Fear” as a real possibility, and so He has no compunctions about telling the truth of this promise: “none shall make them afraid.” Or, as the Bible confesses: “Of whom shall I be afraid?”
We will not be a prey to the heathen and the beast of the field will not devour. These are two concrete examples of “things that make us afraid.” The general and spiritual promise is that nothing in heaven or on earth or under the earth shall make us afraid. The promise is believable because we have Jesus as our Strong Man, Protector, Deliver, Savior, and Conqueror. “If He is for us, who can be against us?” Our spiritual enemies are real, they are dangerous, and they are fierce, but with Jesus we can stand against all the evil powers. In Christ we dwell safely.