Isaiah 41:10 AMPC
Fear not [there is nothing to fear], for I am with you; do not look around you in terror and be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties, yes, I will help you; yes, I will hold you up and retain you with My [victorious] right hand of rightness and justice.
Fear and dismay are twin emotions that eat away at faith.
Fear anticipates disaster, dismay reacts to it.
The result is discouragement and defeatism.
The media loves to incite fear and encourage dismay when bad things materialise.
Watch the news reiterate diasters over and over again.
What does Jesus have to say about all this?
In Luke 21 He describes how things will be before His Return.
It's not a good look, is it.
Luke 21:25-26 NKJV
"And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; [26] men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Then He tells His followers:
Luke 21:28 NKJV
Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."
Hard as it may be, these are the Words of our Lord - we are to be done with fear and dismay, but we are to look for and anticipate the nearness of our redemption.
Sceptics will pooh-pooh the idea of Jesus coming back:
2 Peter 3:4 NLT
They will say, "What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created."
We believers, however, must believe, lift up our heads and look for Him.
It's far nearer now than ever before.
Be ready!
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