Dealing with Fears: Isaiah 43:1-3: Through the River and Through the Fire with God.

Everyone is afraid of something. Some of us are afraid of many things. So how can we find peace of mind in such a dangerous world?

ISAIAH 43:1-3: THROUGH THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE FIRE WITH GOD

INTRODUCTION

I have been reading in the newspaper about the tragic situation in a country called The Sudan, in the middle of Africa.
There is a war going on there. Arab militias from the north are killing, raping, and enslaving the black people of the south.
Many people have fled their homes and are living in fear.
One of their biggest problems is getting water. The wells are a mile away. But the Arab militia hand out at the wells shooting the men and teenage boys who come for water and raping the women.
The best chance of getting the water they desperately need is to send their children. But this is a terrible choice because many of the children are abducted and sold into slavery.
Some 100 people are dying each week. A million Africans have been driven from their homes. Wells have been destroyed or fouled by dumping corpses into them.
In the refugee camps people are dying of malnutrition and disease.
Can you imagine the fear?
Fear is every where. We also have fears, maybe not so terrible, but we live with fears.
Even though our lives aren’t in constant danger as theirs are, we also have fears.
The world is a dangerous place. Bad things happen.

Here is a prayer from a believer in Nigeria. I use it often:

“O Lord, I beseech thee
to deliver me from the fear of the unknown future,
from fear of failure,
from fear of poverty,
from fear of bereavement,
from fear of loneliness,
from fear of pain and sickness,
from fear of age,
and from fear of death.
Help me, Father, to love and fear thee only.
Grant me cheerful courage and loving trust in thee,
through our Lord and Master Jesus Christ.”

But there are more fears than those.

We fear that we will become useless.
We fear that our children will make poor choices and that our grandchildren won’t follow our faith.
Maybe we fear that we will become confused and forget what’s important to us.
Some people fear that they will lose our faith in God.
The Bible has a lot to say about fear.
God knows how afraid we can become.
And the Bible has much to say about how to deal with those things that threaten us.

I. Over and over in the Bible, God tells his people: “Fear not!”

A. One of those encouragements not to fear is in Isaiah 43:1-3:

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”

I take Isaiah’s promise to Israel as his promise to me because I the God of Israel is also my God.

B. God doesn’t promise an easy life

Notice that Isaiah doesn’t tell us that we won’t have to go through the rivers; he just says that because we are precious to God, the rivers won’t overwhelm us.
Isaiah doesn’t tell us that we won’t have to walk through fire; he just says that the flame won’t consume us.
Maybe in some of the terrible situations of life, we don’t feel that God is with us, but he is nevertheless.
I have experienced the peace of God in times of danger.
But I have also experienced great fear, and it didn’t always go away as soon as I prayed.

II. Today I want to talk about some of the ways God has given us to deal with the frightening things in life.

A. First of all, we need to admit that we are afraid.

It’s no use to pretend that because we are Christians we are always filled with peace and joy.
Hiding our fears make them grow.

We must bring our fears to God, name them, and cry out for deliverance.

At one time in my life I was so afraid that I it was hard to pray. I just hung on to God, trying with all my might not to let go.

But after the danger passed, I found that all the time God was holding on to me.

I look back at that time as a time when God was especially close to me.

B. A believing friend can be a big help when doubts and fears shake us. Remember the story about how the four men brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus? We read that Jesus “saw their faith” and healed the man. Sometimes we can hold on to the faith of our believing friends.

C. We need to keep reminding ourselves that God is always with us. He holds us in his grip and will never let us go.

Jesus said, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”

Three times in the Bible God speaks these words to God’s people:

“I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Joshua 1:5; Deuteronomy 31:6, 8; Hebrews 13:5).

The Bible says,
In the Psalms: “God is near the broken-hearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).
When our hearts are breaking we may not feel God being near, but he is near.

D. We need to remember that we are creatures of eternity.

Nothing that happens to us on this earth will last forever, but God promises to keep us in his love forever.

Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many rooms....I go to prepare a place for you that where I am there you will be also.”

A few years from now—maybe even sooner—you and I will be enjoying eternity with our Lord Jesus and all the troubles of earth be dim, distant memories.

Can you believe this?
I can, and the stronger my faith is, the more I can rejoice, even in the uncertainties and difficulties or life.

Psalm 17 ends with these words:

“As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness.
When I awake I shall be satisfied with beholding thy form.”

Or consider this promise from Psalm 30:

“Weeping may tarry for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.”

I think of “the morning” as the time when we see Jesus face-to-face in the Father’s house.

The opposite of fear is faith. Let us pray to God for stronger faith, for faith to believe that God is with us no matter what happens.

I have two prayers from the psalms that I pray every night before I go to sleep. Both are from the Psalms:

“In peace, I will both lie down and sleep;
for thou alone makest me dwell in safety” (Psalm 4:8).

“Father, into thy hand I commit my spirit.
Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God” (Psalm 34:8).

I pray those prayers every night before I go to sleep. It feels good to know that I’m in the hand of my Heavenly Father.