“Fear not” is Applicable to us Today

And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.  And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.  -Luke 1:30, 31 (KJV)

We have contained in these verses one of the greatest and most powerful truths of our faith.  It is that we fear not, for the Lord is with us.  I wonder how many times we have read this, thought about it, but taken it for granted.  Do we comprehend the spiritual power of this divine truth?  We do not have to be afraid, for the Lord is with us.  The same promise was given to Mary, to Joseph, and many others in Scripture.  “Fear not” is applicable to us today.  God calls to us and reminds us to fear not, for He is with us.  This promise applies to the soldier on the battlefield, it applies to the missionary in the jungles of Southeast Asia, and it applies to you and I right here right now wherever we are.  The Lord has given a sacred charge; fear not.   

Since we have been given this charge, why are we so unwilling to practice it from day-to-day?  Instead of taking the Lord at His Word and letting our troubled hearts be stilled, we instead walk around in a state of fear.  What does the Bible say about this?  II Timothy 1:7 says, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and a sound mind.”  Fear holds us back and hinders our effectiveness in the kingdom of God, but faith overcomes fear and faith moves us forward in Jesus’ name.   

What would have happened if Mary and Joseph would have allowed themselves to be overcome and paralyzed by fear?  The result would have been unfaithfulness to the divine charge the Lord had given them.  The call was not to simply be unafraid in the presence of the angel, but to not be afraid of doing God’s will.  Mary was probably fearful at the sight of the angel, but once she overcame that fear it was time to get ready to do the will of God.

Let that be our attitude as well, that we are willing and ready to follow whatever the Lord is calling us to do.  God is faithful and He will empower us to accomplish His will in our lives. 

Look to the Lord and rejoice, for salvation has come in Jesus Christ.