In My Grief and Heartache…God

 Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness;

He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.—Psalm 112:4

He will not be afraid of evil tidings;

His heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.—Psalm 112:7

There IS much ongoing heartache and sorrow in my life that I am powerless to remedy.  The underlying song and background melody of my heart is joyful gratitude for all my God has done, but often my immediate presenting emotion is grief.

Yesterday was one of those days. My heart was overwhelmed by sorrow and I needed the comfort that only God can give. Psalm 112 brought it. 

4 Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness;

He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.

7 He will not be afraid of evil tidings;

His heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.

The Lord my God will light my lamp; He will enlighten my darkness. He will make even the night light about me. Psalm 112:4 reminded me to think on who my God is…on His character. He is gracious, and full of compassion. He is righteous.  Its words brought to mind this precious truth from Job and its corollary from 1 Peter. 

And the LORD restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.

11 Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

The end my God intends for me is good…my Lord is very compassionate and merciful.  Tears came then and life became easier to bear because I knew my God was bearing it with me. I was not alone. God is my strong habitation to which I can continually resort.  He is the same yesterday, today and forever. His love never fails.  His mercy toward me is great, and I am always helped.  I can face my sorrow without fear. It will not overwhelm me.  My heart will safely trust Him. He will see me through.

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by your name;

You are Mine.

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.—Isaiah 43:1-2

17 Unless the LORD had been my help,

My soul would soon have settled in silence.

18 If I say, "My foot slips,"

Your mercy, O LORD, will hold me up.

19 In the multitude of my anxieties within me,

Your comforts delight my soul.—Psalm 94:17-19

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,

It is well, it is well, with my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;

Behold My Servant…

 4 "The Lord GOD has given Me

The tongue of the learned,

That I should know how to speak

A word in season to him who is weary.

He awakens Me morning by morning,

He awakens My ear

To hear as the learned.

5 The Lord GOD has opened My ear;

And I was not rebellious,

Nor did I turn away.

6 I gave My back to those who struck Me,

And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard;

I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.

7 "For the Lord GOD will help Me;

Therefore I will not be disgraced;

Therefore I have set My face like a flint,

And I know that I will not be ashamed.

8 He is near who justifies Me;

Who will contend with Me?

Let us stand together.

Who is My adversary?

Let him come near Me.

9 Surely the Lord GOD will help Me;

Who is he who will condemn Me?

Indeed they will all grow old like a garment;

The moth will eat them up.—Isaiah 50:4-11

There are four Servant Songs ((cf. 42:1–9; 49:1–13; 50:4-11; 52:13–53:12) in the Book of Isaiah. All were written more than 700 years before the birth of Christ and each is undeniably prophetic.  This is the third and it is Messiah’s soliloquy about being made perfect through obedience.  

Whatever Jesus did or said here on earth, He did in obedience to the will of His Father in heaven...completely entrusting Himself into His Father's hands. It is important to note also that everything He did here on earth, He did as a Man.  Jesus walked in those works that His Father had prepared beforehand for Him as a human being empowered by the Spirit of God, never using His divine powers.   Beloved, all that Jesus said and did while He was here on earth, He did to show us the way.  It all can be applied to our own lives and walk with Him.  Look at what He tells us in these verses on how to go through the trials of life:

1. spend time with the Father.

2. encourage others in their weariness with the Word of God.

3. comfort them in their distress.

4. do not be rebellious..

5. receive with meekness the implanted word.

6. set your face like flint to endure knowing that your God WILL help.

7. rely upon your God...you will not be disgraced or ashamed.

Then He reminds us that our enemies will  grow old...the moths will eat them up.. He has gone before  and shown us the way.  JESUS LIVED OUT HIS OWN WORD...HE WAS THE WORD AND HIS WORD AND HIS DEED MATCHED...THAT IS THE DEFINITION OF TRUTH. AMAZING!

Sometimes in a trial we feel as if no one really understands our suffering.  There is ONE...and He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows the chastisement for our peace was upon Him. He endured all this for us...Hebrews 12:2 says it was for the joy that was set before Him...we are that joy...He is our joy, our strength and our salvation. He is our way, our truth, our life! Go to Him, trust in Him. Commit yourself to Him. He will not disappoint!

For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.—John 6:38-40

For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. 50 And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak."—John 12:49-50

Then I said, 'Behold, I have come—

In the volume of the book it is written of Me—

To do Your will, O God.'"—Hebrews 10:7

Father...May this mind...the mind of Christ be in me!  May I desire what You, my God, desires.  May I walk as my Jesus did. Set my face like flint, Father, and enable me to endure whatever You have prepared for me knowing that You will uphold me through it all. Help me by Your Spirit to remain submissive, like my Jesus, honoring You with my faith and my obedience.  May Your footsteps be my pathway.  

Holy and Awesome is His Name…

 9 He has sent redemption to His people;

He has commanded His covenant forever:

Holy and awesome is His name.

10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;

A good understanding have all those who do His commandments.

His praise endures forever.—Psalm 111:9-10

Holy and awesome is His name!  He has sent redemption to His people.  He has commanded His covenant forever.  His works are done in truth and righteousness.  The man who fears God and walks in His commandments walks in wholeness or perfection.  Sin, on the other hand, corrupts and destroys.  It tears you down rather than building you up.  God is holy and that is His desire for us…that we be holy as He is holy.  Holiness leads to understanding and joy…. Sin to blindness and great sorrow both in this world and in the next.  

Oh, to be so in love with our God that we never want to do anything that would grieve Him.  Oh, love the Lord, you His saints!  This is where wisdom begins.  This will be the joy and stability of your heart. This is how we are conformed into His image and become more and more like He created us to be.  

13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

Fear God and keep His commandments,

For this is man's all.

14 For God will bring every work into judgment,

Including every secret thing,

Whether good or evil.—Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

…he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still."—Revelation 22:11b

1 Give unto the LORD, O you mighty ones,

Give unto the LORD glory and strength.

2 Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name;

Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.—Psalm 29:1-2

23 Oh, love the LORD, all you His saints!

For the LORD preserves the faithful,

And fully repays the proud person.

24 Be of good courage,

And He shall strengthen your heart,

All you who hope in the LORD.—Psalm 31:23-24

Our God is UNFATHOMABLY Good…

 I will praise the LORD with my whole heart,

In the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.

2 The works of the LORD are great,

Studied by all who have pleasure in them.—Psalm 111:1-2

Psalm 111 is an acrostic psalm that gives us reasons to praise our God. Every line begins with a consecutive letter of the Hebrew alphabet to help aid the reader (Hebrew reader that is) in memorization. This morning my heart focused on the first two verses.  

Today by His Spirit, I will praise my God!  All that is within me will praise Him whose name is great and whose works are wonderful.  I will study to see His lovingkindness before my eyes. 

Beloved, our God is UNFATHOMABLY good.   All that we see, hear, smell, touch, and taste comes from His good hand. His steadfast love toward us truly never ceases.  His beauty and wisdom surround us and His Spirit lives in us and is with us.  His works are honorable and glorious and His ways past finding out.  

Oh, Father!  You are so faithful!  Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things!  I need Your pure word to enlighten my eyes and remove the sin that obscures my vision and renders me unable to see Your lovingkindness before my eyes. I want to focus on those things that are true, right, pure, noble and good.  Guide the eyes of my soul today,  Father, and make Your way straight before my face.  

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

Be acceptable in Your sight,

O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.—Psalm 19:14

The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me. A prayer to the God of my life.—Psalm 42:8

1 I will praise You with my whole heart;

Before the gods I will sing praises to You.

2 I will worship toward Your holy temple,

And praise Your name

For Your lovingkindness and Your truth;

For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.

3 In the day when I cried out, You answered me,

And made me bold with strength in my soul.

4 All the kings of the earth shall praise You, O LORD,

When they hear the words of Your mouth.

5 Yes, they shall sing of the ways of the LORD,

For great is the glory of the LORD.

6 Though the LORD is on high,

Yet He regards the lowly;

But the proud He knows from afar.

7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me;

You will stretch out Your hand

Against the wrath of my enemies,

And Your right hand will save me.

8 The LORD will perfect that which concerns me;

Your mercy, O LORD, endures forever;

Do not forsake the works of Your hands.—Psalm 138

Thirst….Come…Drink

 For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, And floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, And My blessing on your offspring;--Isaiah 44:3

Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna, and Mikayla,

What a wonderful prayer to pray for you, my children...and for my precious grandchildren. I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessings on your offspring! Glorious!

This is the verse that was always read on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles which celebrates God's deliverance, protection, and provision during Israel's wilderness wanderings. John's gospel tells us that on the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying: 

“...If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”--John 7:37-38

Jesus revealed Himself as the fulfillment of this verse in Isaiah. He is the One who would provide the living water that gives us eternal life. Jesus is the only One who can satisfy the thirsts that resides in the heart of every person.  We try to quench it with so many things both physical and emotional, but what we really need is Him.  

God will pour out His Spirit on those that come to Him and out of their hearts shall flow torrents of living water. Complete satisfaction is only found in Him. Those three words...thirsts...come...drink summarize the message of the Gospel.  First, there must be a recognition of need, then a coming to the Source and finally a receiving of what is needed to satisfy. Isaiah 12: 3 is also quoted on this last day of the feast.

Behold, God is my salvation,  I will trust and not be afraid;  ‘ For YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’”Therefore with joy you will draw water From the wells of salvation.--Isaiah 12:2-3

Jehovah is a Hebrew word for God meaning literally "the becoming one."  The name is important because it expresses what God wants to be to you. God desires to become whatever your need may be. The name Jesus means Jehovah is Salvation. He has become your salvation!  Don't settle for the endless and hopeless quests of finding permanent and lasting satisfaction in this world.  A relationship with Jesus will satisfy every longing in your heart.   It will cost you nothing.  It costs God the Father, the death of His Son on the cross at Calvary.  His redemptive work and His kingdom are for the benefit of all who are willing to come.

Love
Mom

Jesus' words in John echo Isaiah 55 which I have copied in its entirety below.

Isaiah 55

  “Ho! Everyone who thirsts,

      Come to the waters; 

      And you who have no money, 

      Come, buy and eat. 

      Yes, come, buy wine and milk 

      Without money and without price. 

       ² Why do you spend money for what is not bread, 

      And your wages for what does not satisfy? 

      Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, 

      And let your soul delight itself in abundance. 

       ³ Incline your ear, and come to Me. 

      Hear, and your soul shall live; 

      And I will make an everlasting covenant with you— 

      The sure mercies of David. 

       ⁴ Indeed I have given him as a witness to the people, 

      A leader and commander for the people. 

       ⁵ Surely you shall call a nation you do not know, 

      And nations who do not know you shall run to you, 

      Because of the LORD your God, 

      And the Holy One of Israel; 

      For He has glorified you.” 

       ⁶ Seek the LORD while He may be found, 

      Call upon Him while He is near. 

       ⁷ Let the wicked forsake his way, 

      And the unrighteous man his thoughts; 

      Let him return to the LORD, 

      And He will have mercy on him; 

      And to our God, 

      For He will abundantly pardon. 

       ⁸ “ For My thoughts are not your thoughts, 

      Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. 

       ⁹ “ For as the heavens are higher than the earth, 

      So are My ways higher than your ways, 

      And My thoughts than your thoughts. 

       ¹⁰ “ For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, 

      And do not return there, 

      But water the earth, 

      And make it bring forth and bud, 

      That it may give seed to the sower 

      And bread to the eater, 

       ¹¹ So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; 

      It shall not return to Me void, 

      But it shall accomplish what I please, 

      And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. 

       ¹² “ For you shall go out with joy, 

      And be led out with peace; 

      The mountains and the hills 

      Shall break forth into singing before you, 

      And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 

       ¹³ Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, 

      And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; 

      And it shall be to the LORD for a name, 

      For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

I Will Help Thee…

 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.'  "Behold, all those who were incensed against you Shall be ashamed and disgraced; They shall be as nothing, And those who strive with you shall perish. You shall seek them and not find them— Those who contended with you. Those who war against you Shall be as nothing, As a nonexistent thing. For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand, Saying to you, 'Fear not, I will help you.'  "Fear not, you worm Jacob, You men of Israel! I will help you," says the LORD And your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. "Behold, I will make you into a new threshing sledge with sharp teeth; You shall thresh the mountains and beat them small, And make the hills like chaff. You shall winnow them, the wind shall carry them away, And the whirlwind shall scatter them; You shall rejoice in the LORD, And glory in the Holy One of Israel.  "The poor and needy seek water, but there is none, Their tongues fail for thirst. I, the LORD, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open rivers in desolate heights, And fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, And the dry land springs of water.  I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree, The myrtle and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the cypress tree and the pine And the box tree together, That they may see and know, And consider and understand together, That the hand of the LORD has done this, And the Holy One of Israel has created it.--Isaiah 41:9-20 

Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna, and Mikayla, 

I needed this promise personally today...maybe you do too. No matter what the difficulty is that you are facing, God has chosen you and you are precious to Him.  If you are afraid, fear not...He is with you.  If you weak, He will strengthen you.  If you are tottering, He will uphold you with His  righteous right hand.  He will deal with all who oppose you...He is  the God who sees.  Those who strive with you. They will perish and be no more. But remember the battle is His.  He will fight for you, the bible says, and you shall hold your peace. Vengeance is Mine, says the Lord..He will shine forth.  Wait on Him...His ways are perfect.

If you are feeling poor and needy or weak and despised....God says to fear not...He will help you.   He is your Redeemer.  He will provide for you, comfort you and make you into a vessel  fit for use in His kingdom.  He will do exceedingly abundantly in your life.  Your job is to cry out to Him in humility and allow Him to fill you. His strength is made perfect in weakness and He uses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. He is the answer to all prayers.  Look at verse 18.  

"I will open rivers in desolate heights, And fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, And the dry land springs of water."

He will make the wilderness here for us on earth a pool of water and the dry land springs.  Our God will do it.   He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?  You are His daughter...Your Father is the God of heaven and earth...You fear???  Those who oppose you should shake and tremble and be very afraid.  

Stand back and see the salvation of the Lord.  The Lord is our defense and He is our Rock of Refuge. The Lord is our help and in the multitude of our anxieties within His comfort delights our soul.  

Love

Mom

Waiting on the Lord…. Isaiah 40:28-31

Have you not known?  
      Have you not heard?  
      The everlasting God, the LORD,  
      The Creator of the ends of the earth,  
      Neither faints nor is weary.  
      His understanding is unsearchable.  
        He gives power to the weak,  
      And to those who have no might He increases strength.  
       Even the youths shall faint and be weary,  
      And the young men shall utterly fall,  
       But those who wait on the LORD  
      Shall renew their strength;  
      They shall mount up with wings like eagles,  
      They shall run and not be weary,  
      They shall walk and not faint.

Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,

I so needed to read these verses tonight.  Sometimes I forget who dwells inside me.  Have you not known, Isaiah begins....Have you not heard??? The everlasting God, the LORD,  The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.  God has got me and my problems covered...He doesn't get tired and His understanding is unsearchable.  He knows what I am going through and He knows the state of my heart.  Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! 

Isaiah goes on to remind us (me) that He gives power to the weak and to those who have no might he increases their strength.  I am without strength and weak....BUT that is a good thing because His strength is made perfect in weakness.  He will uphold me. He will hedge me behind and before.  Colossians 1:11 says, "He will strengthen me with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy." At my weakest I can cry out to Him with gladness knowing He has enough for both of us.  And as I cry out, my eyes fill with His goodness and mercy and love toward me.  I am poor and needy and yet the Lord thinks on me!

My strength will be renewed as I wait on the Lord.  I like to see the phrase  "wait on the Lord" as Jon Courson explains it.  I am the Lord's waiter.  I am serving Him here on earth and doing those things that He has prepared beforehand for me to do.  My job is to please Him and honor Him here as I journey through this vale of tears.   I am to spend time with Him in worship, in thanksgiving, in prayer and in the study and meditation of His word.  I am to look for ways to love those He has placed in my path with the love that He Himself has shed abroad in my heart.  I am here for Him...my life is about Him...not me.  Whatever He sends me is good and is for my good and His glory.  And as I go through this life there will be times like tonight when my strength is spent and my heart is weak.  Here is what I know: He will be gracious to me...He will incline His ear to me and hear my cry...He will strengthen my heart...He will be good to me...He will renew my strength...He will not leave me nor forsake me and in Him I have everything I need.

Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, Whose heart is set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, They make it a spring; The rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; Each one appears before God in Zion.--Psalm 84:5-7

Love

Mom

Undertake For Me, Father!

 Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength,—Psalm 8:2a

There is not much weaker or more helpless than a newborn baby, but the same God that can ordain strength out of the mouths of a nursing infant can be my strength and my support in my own weakness.  He can use ME, weak as I am, to display His glory! 

Lord...Thank you for my weakness because it reminds me of who I am and who You are.  It keeps me from living MY life in MY strength.  It helps me REMEMBER to look up to where my true help comes and live the life You have graciously and mercifully laid out for me.  Because Your grace is sufficient, the backdrop of my life will display Your strength and silence my (Your) enemies.  Thank you for the heavens because they remind me that I am small and You are infinite.  I say with the Psalmist

“What is man that You are mindful of him? And the son of man that You visit him?”

YOU! visit me!   You dwell in me!  I can revel in my smallness, my brokenness, my dependence and my weakness because in and through it all You ordain strength.  Your strength is made perfect in my weakness.  How wonderful to know that I don’t have to be strong.  You didn’t make me to be strong...You made me to depend on You...to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, Your Son.  I am a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for my Master, prepared for every good work.  I can rest knowing that Your grace is sufficient.  I will, therefore, most gladly BOAST in my infirmities, that Your power may rest upon me.  I will take PLEASURE in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake.  For when I am weak, then I am strong!   Undertake for me, Father! 

But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption--that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the LORD."— 1 Cor 1:27-31

Don’t Fall for It!

 4 Then the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: “What confidence is this in which you trust? 5 I say you speak of having plans and power for war; but they are mere words. Now in whom do you trust, that you rebel against me? 6 Look! You are trusting in the staff of this broken reed, Egypt, on which if a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.

7 “But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar’?” ’ 8 Now therefore, I urge you, give a pledge to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses—if you are able on your part to put riders on them! 9 How then will you repel one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put your trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen? 10 Have I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? The LORD said to me, ‘Go up against this land, and destroy it.’ ”

11 Then Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; and do not speak to us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.”  12 But the Rabshakeh said, “Has my master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat and drink their own waste with you?”  13 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in Hebrew, and said, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14 Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you; 15 nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, “The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” ’ 16 Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make peace with me by a present and come out to me; and every one of you eat from his own vine and every one from his own fig tree, and every one of you drink the waters of his own cistern; 17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18 Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, “The LORD will deliver us.” Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered its land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Indeed, have they delivered Samaria from my hand? 20 Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their countries from my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’ ”

A quick read thru of chapter 36 tells me that Satan has not changed his tactics.  Fear was his weapon then and is the same one he still uses today.  He wields it with much skill and authority. His goal is to make you question where you are placing your faith. 

Then the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say now to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: “What confidence is this in which you trust? —Isaiah 36:4

Beloved…fear is not of God.  Do not surrender to it.  Honor your God by placing your trust moment by moment in Him. Our help comes from the Lord, the Maker of Heaven and earth. 

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.—2 Timothy 1:7

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.—1 John 4:18

For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”—Isaiah 41:3

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.—John 14:27

In your distress call on your God. He is faithful. He is among those who help you.

5 I called on the LORD in distress;

The LORD answered me and set me in a broad place.

6 The LORD is on my side;

I will not fear.

What can man do to me?

7 The LORD is for me among those who help me;

Therefore I shall see my desire on those who hate me.

8 It is better to trust in the LORD

Than to put confidence in man.

9 It is better to trust in the LORD

Than to put confidence in princes.—Psalm 118:5-9

1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills—

From whence comes my help?

2 My help comes from the LORD,

Who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not allow your foot to be moved;

He who keeps you will not slumber.

4 Behold, He who keeps Israel

Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The LORD is your keeper;

The LORD is your shade at your right hand.

6 The sun shall not strike you by day,

Nor the moon by night.

7 The LORD shall preserve you from all evil;

He shall preserve your soul.

8 The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in

From this time forth, and even forevermore.—Psalm 121