God's Favorite Saying

God's got a favorite saying. Do you know what it is? "Fear not!" That's gotta be it because it's all throughout the Bible. Over one hundred times in the Scriptures we find that simple admonition.

"Fear not!" were the first words God spoke to Abraham in Genesis 12. When Israel stood at the edge of the Red Sea with the Egyptian army charging toward them, God said, "Fear not!" When Joshua took up the mantle of leadership following the death of Moses, God said to him, Fear not!" When the Angel of the Lord appeared to Daniel as he fasted and prayed, he said, "Fear not!" When Gabriel appeared to Mary to announce the coming of the Lord Jesus, he greeted her with the words, "Fear not!" And when the Jesus Christ Himself, the glorified Son of Almighty God, appeared to the Apostle John on the Isle of Patmos, He said to him, "Fear not!"
I can't think of two words I'd rather hear God speak to me than "Fear not!"

The world we live in desperately needs a dose of "Fear not!" Fear is the prevailing emotion all around us. The media makes a living playing on it and politicians rise and fall with it. People are fearful.
I hit on some of the reasons for our fear a couple of posts ago, but here's the short version. Gas prices are spiraling upward. There's a crisis in home mortgages. Storms and flooding seem to be the daily headlines. And we can't rely on the tomatoes we buy to be safe for consumption.
Pretty scary stuff, huh?

Well, no scarier than the Egyptian army coming straight at you. Or the thought of leading the people of God into the Promised land. Or being asked to bear God's Son. Yet God was able to handle all of that.
I'm pretty sure He'll be able to handle my mortgage, my gas tank, and my BLT sandwich.