Fear Not What is Coming

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?.. Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.” (Matthew 6:25-26,31-32 ESV)

When we read the news, no matter where we live, we might be tempted to become anxious about all the things that are going on in our nations and in the world, as a whole, wondering how our lives are going to be impacted by it all. Where I live right now there is much upheaval going on with the new administration and with all the quick changes which are happening every day, which are enough to make anyone’s head spin. For there is constant angst going on with the daily alterations of life as we have come to know it.

But we can’t really trust the media or our leaders to tell us the truth, for they may or may not actually do the things they are declaring or that they are threatening, or whatever. And so much of this could be for the purpose to distract us from what is really happening behind the scenes. Some of this could be just “noise” to keep us all looking one direction while they are working on something in an entirely different direction, which they don’t want us to know about. And they want us at each other’s throats, too.

So we can’t let all the “noise” take us out. We cannot believe the news media or our leaders. And whatever is going to happen is going to happen. And chances are pretty good that we, the people, will not be able to do anything to stop it from happening. For all that is happening, I believe, is just fulfilling the prophecies of the Scriptures with regard to what we are supposed to be witnessing in these last days before the return of Christ. And the closer we get, the more that it will become evident where we are.

And since the high cost of living and food shortages and possible famine are things which are being presented to us, it can become easy to begin to wonder if we will be lacking in food to eat, either because of food shortages, and/or because the food prices are just way too high for us to afford. There is also much talk of making changes to Social Security (our retirement system that we paid into, not a handout) which could impact our ability to pay our bills, including our rent. So for many, these are legitimate concerns.

But if we look at it all from God’s perspective, and not from a human perspective, we need to just lay it all at his feet and believe that, whatever happens, that he is in control, that he has a purpose for it all to happen, and that he will carry us through it all until the time that he takes us home to be with him for eternity. And we are all those who are believing in Jesus, who are putting sin to death in our lives daily, and who are walking in obedience to the Lord and to his commands, in practice, in the power of God.

But he never promised us “smooth sailing.” He promised us persecution, rejection, beatings, false imprisonments, hunger, thirst, false accusations against us, and all kinds of other trials and tribulations brought to us via the scheming of our enemies. And our enemies may be, in fact, some who we think are our friends, who we think are on our side, but we thought wrong! So we need to be very careful about who we believe and trust, and we should be people who test the Spirits to see who is of God and who is not.

Now, this doesn’t mean that we just sit back and ignore what is going on in the world, or what they are presenting to us that they want us to believe is going on, for we are to be people who watch and pray, and who test what we see and read and hear against the truth of the Scriptures, and in prayer. We should keep our eyes and ears open and attentive to what is happening all around us, but while realizing that not everything is what they say it is. But through it all, our trust needs to be in God, and we must not be afraid.

Trust and Obey  

Words by John H. Sammis, 1887

Music by Daniel B. Towner, 1887

When we walk with the Lord 

in the light of His Word,

What a glory He sheds on our way!

While we do His good will, 

He abides with us still,

And with all who will trust and obey. 

Not a shadow can rise, 

not a cloud in the skies,

But His smile quickly drives it away;

Not a doubt or a fear, 

not a sigh or a tear,

Can abide while we trust and obey.

Not a burden we bear, 

not a sorrow we share,

But our toil He doth richly repay;

Not a grief or a loss, 

not a frown or a cross,

But is blessed if we trust and obey.

But we never can prove 

the delights of His love

Until all on the altar we lay;

For the favor He shows, 

for the joy He bestows,

Are for them who will trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet 

We will sit at His feet.

Or we’ll walk by His side in the way.

What He says we will do, 

Where He sends we will go;

Never fear, only trust and obey.

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way

To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB4KcleYiWM

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Fear Not What is Coming

An Original Work / February 8, 2025

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love