“And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. . .” Luke 21: 25, 26, NKJV.
Gracious God, in the midst of everything taking place around us, please help us to realize that You are still in control. And with that knowledge may we be set free from all our fears. In the blessed name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
The sign that we will be looking at, is found in the very heart of our Scripture for today: “men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth[.]” We are living in a world that is almost entirely, held captive by fear. We fear others; we fear “what might happen;” we are afraid that our needs might not be supplied ; we are afraid of the unknown. Because of this, more people suffer from depression, anxiety, sleeplessness, and a long list of fear-related infirmities, which only serves to increase their fearfulness.
From Jesus’ comments on more than one occasion (see Matthew 6: 30; 16: 8), it would appear that He saw fear as a lack of faith. Listen to what He said to the disciples when they became fearful during the storm: “And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. And they awoke Him and said to Him, ‘ “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” ‘ Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘ “Peace, be still!” ‘ And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, ‘ “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” ‘ And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, ‘ “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him” ‘ ” (Mark 4: 37-41)?
“How is it that you have no faith,” sounds as if He is saying, “If you had faith, you would not be so fearful.” What makes their fear so deserving of reproof, is the fact that Jesus was in the boat! But before we criticize them for their fearfulness, let us not overlook the fact that even though we say that Jesus is the Sovereign of this world and its inhabitants (Psalm 24: 1), our hearts oftentimes “[fail us] from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth[.]!
At least the disciples were in the storm. We have become fearful over expected calamities! And oftentimes, we are fearful over things which never come to pass. But there is another aspect of fear that we should not overlook, and it is equally, the result of a lack of faith! Let us look once more at Mark 4: 41, “And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” Emphasis supplied.
Sometimes we are even fearful of the results of answered prayer! They cried to Jesus for help. I do not know what kind of help they expected, but when they received help, Scripture informs us that they were “exceedingly” afraid, and asked one another, “Who is this that can answer prayers in this manner” (my paraphrase of the disciples question)? We want natural answers to supernatural problems! Perhaps that is because we have created gods in our own image. So, we do not expect them to do more for us than we can do for ourselves! Therefore, we become fearful!
Something similar occurred when the church was praying for Peter to be released from prison. God answered their prayer and this is what happened: “Now Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished” (Acts 12: 16). Standing before them was the answer to their prayers, and they were shocked! “Could it be that we have actually received what we asked for?” “Did God really answer our prayers?”
Indeed, Jesus identified the reason for all our fears – A lack of faith. Yet it is “grace, by faith” that is going to get us to the finish line, because “without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11: 6).May God increase our faith, that we might not be among those who become fearful, as we witness the signs of His coming being fulfilled. Instead, may we “rejoice” as we see our “redemption drawing near” (Luke 21: 28)!
I just thought that an annex to this devotional would be in order: I too, become very fearful over different situations. So these words are as much for me, as well as for you who are reading. May God help us to learn, together, how to cast out “cares” and “fears” upon Him, knowing that He cares for us (1 Peter 5: 7)!