Fear Of The Future (Daily Devotional)

Hi everyone and welcome to Living Supernaturally. Thank you so much for giving us this opportunity to come together, to ponder on God’s word and spend a few moments in prayer. This week, we are talking about trials and challenges and how as believers, we must respond to these trials and challenges we face in our everyday lives. Today, let’s look at Isaiah chapter 41, verses 8 to 10, ‘“But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, The descendants of Abraham My friend. You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest regions, and said to you, ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away: Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’’ What scares you? We ask children this question, they will often mention, the fear of the dark or exams or getting lost. Teens and adults are more experienced and tend to mention bigger risks, a natural disaster, job recessions, marriage or a fear of simply making it through the week. Our God knows how we are made and how fear can cripple us. In the bible, the message ‘do not fear’ occurs 365 times in one phrasing or another. The prophet Isaiah is speaking God’s word to God’s chosen people and encourages Israel to trust God. Even though they will suffer captivity, they are not to fear because God has an amazing rescue plan. When we look at the book of Jeremiah, we read about how the people of God have been captured by King Nebuchadnezzar and taken into captivity in Babylon. In their eyes, their future looked bleak and scary, they had no idea if they would ever get back home or what would happen to them when they are in Babylon. Would their families be spit up? Would they be abused and tortured? Would they be slaves for the rest of their lives? In chapter 29, we find a letter encouraging the people who were in exile with the truth that God will rescue them and though it did not seem like it at that moment, God knew He was going to do it. His plans are always the best. When we lose our job, or learn that we have a serious illness, or face a big financial loss or watch a family member make a dangerous choice, we naturally experience fear. What is going to happen to us or to them? How will they get through this? God’s word in Isaiah invites us to look at the bigger picture, the overarching story. Our God promises, ‘I am with you, I am your God, I will strengthen you and help you so do not be dismayed.’ This is both a command and a promise. The plans He has for our lives may not be easy, it my involve hardships and we may have to go to the unknown, which can be scary. We should not live in fear. We need to remind ourselves every moment that God is on our side, He is with us, He is for us. How do we change our perspective on the future in a way that helps us rest in the Lord? We need to know God, secondly, believe in God’s word and His promises. Our perspective of the future changes when we know that God is going before us and He will make a way for us. Let us pray, Father, we thank you that you are a God who loves us, that you will never leave us, you will never forsake us, that your hand will uphold us even when we feel weak and weary, you will lift us up and you will rise us up with wings like eagles. Thank you for these wonderful promises, we give you all the praise and glory, in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

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Daily devotions to strengthen your faith each day. Daily Devotional for Spirit filled living. Each daily devotion is about five minutes in duration. These daily devotionals are centered around a weekly theme. So there are seven daily devotions that focus on the theme and bring you insight, understanding and revelation from the Bible. Each week’s theme is listed as a series. So you can listen to the current week’s devotions or go to any previous theme/series that speaks to your present need (https://apcwo.org/resources/daily-devotions ). Also available free sermons (https://apcwo.org/sermons), and free Christian books (https://apcwo.org/books) to nourish and strengthen your faith.