“Do Not Be Afraid” is a term that is mentioned 365 times throughout the bible. Every time the Angels appear in the bible stories, the conversation starts with “Do Not Be Afraid.” When Jesus appears after the resurrection, He says, “Do Not Be Afraid.” In our reading today from Exodus, Moses tells the Israelites, “Do Not Be Afraid.” Why does this phrase come up so often in scripture? It’s because people are afraid of what? We are fearful of the impossible! We truly doubt that God has the ability to be God in the present.
Human beings can only comprehend with their five senses. When a situation presents itself to be outside the realm of our five senses and control, we immediately become consumed with fear. If God chooses to manifest God’s self to us, you can rest assured we’ll be afraid and fall on our knees or find ourselves in a humble posture face-down on the ground. The presence of God must be the most intense and incredible experience any person can ever hope to have. The Bible promises that we’ll experience God in person, either in this life or the next or both, if we are rightly related to God.
We lie to ourselves all the time about the level of faith we have in God. We claim to have only doubts and apprehension for ourselves, but the truth is, we do not trust God’s ability to be God. We already know our own limitations; it’s our self-reliance and doubt of what God can do that creates all the fear.
This helps explain why the phrase “Do Not Be Afraid” has to be declared because our finite and extremely self-centered selves cannot fully believe that God is perfectly capable of being God. We owe it to ourselves to confess our doubts and apprehension about God and focus our attention on being confident with who God says God is, and quit playing God for ourselves.
Scripture Readings
Reflection Questions
- What did you take away from today’s reflection and scripture readings?
- Why are you afraid?
- Do you have doubts and apprehension about God’s ability to be God?
- How has your extreme self-centered reared its ugly head in your relationship with God?
- Have you ever studied the philosophy of ants?
- Do you believe that only a child receives an answer to prayer, where a wise person does not?
Prayer
Lord, I don’t wish to be afraid, but I confess that I am when it comes to You. Please forgive me for my doubts and apprehension to fully believe, especially when the impossible is present. Remove from me this deep reliance on myself, and help me put my faith only in You, Your ways, and Your promises. In Your Spirit and Name, I pray these things. Your will and not mine be done. Amen.
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