Isaiah 43:1-2 New King James Version (NKJV)
But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.
I love this passage of scripture and whenever I’ve been in a situation where I could fear this scripture has been a great encouragement to me. Whenever there are many reasons to be gripped by fear I choose to rather focus in on the word of God and what it says because the more I focus on the promises of God in His Word, the less opportunity I have to focus in on the fear-filled circumstances. The way to deal with fear is to fill yourself with faith. Now, you’ve got faith inside of you (Romans 12:3) says you’ve been given the measure of faith), but that faith often remains dormant because you’re not stirring it up and releasing it. The more you focus on Jesus (the author and perfecter of our faith – Hebrews 12:2), the more you’re going to stop fearing and start operating in faith,
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine.” When you realize that you are not your own but that you are bought with a price and now you belong to God (1 Corinthians 6:20), then there’s nothing to fear. You know that your loving heavenly Father has got you. He’s got your back and He’s going to care for you. You have no need to fear! “When you pass through the waters, I’ll be with you. You’re not going to be drowned, when you pass through the fire. I’ll be with you; you will not be burned.” That is powerful! It doesn’t matter what circumstances are like, you’re going to come out the other side better than you went in! God didn’t bring the negative circumstances your way, but He will help you turn the situation that you’re going through (the negative circumstance) for your good. You’ll come out of that situation a better person than you went in and it will bring your Father much glory.
In Luke 8, we see that Jesus was on His way to minister to a sick girl when news came that she had passed away.
Luke 8:49-50 New King James Version (NKJV)
While He was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying to him, “Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the Teacher.” 50 But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, “Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well.”
The message had been received, “Your daughter is dead, don’t bother Jesus.” How does Jesus respond? His reaction shows us that He is not fearful of death and that death is not final. He says, “fear not, believe only and she shall be made whole.” Fear will never produce miracles. Fear will never produce life. Only faith can bring miracles and produce life. Faith will access the power of God. Faith will release His life-giving power. Fear will not. Fear will bring death and prevent the release of God’s power in your life. Faith and fear are opposing forces which produce different fruit. If you look at the fruit in your life, do you identify fear, or faith? Fear is not just a feeling but rather it’s faith in the negative and if you allow it, it will overcome you. You choose to fear as much as you choose to be in faith.
Romans 10:17 New King James Version (NKJV)
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word. The more you’re in the Word and focusing on Jesus (the Living Word) the stronger you will stand in faith. When we focus on the promises of God (for example, that He’ll never leave us and never forsake us), faith rises in us and we will experience the miraculous.
Jesus said, “fear not, only believe,” to the man who’s daughter had just died. In the natural, death would have sealed the deal. Fear would have sealed the deal. But Jesus says to Him, “only believe”. Why? This is important! In the face of death, Jesus says, “only believe” because faith has the final say. You may be facing a “death” situation, today. Remember that faith has the final say. If you believe and you don’t give into fear, you can experience the life-giving power of God to change your situation.