Bella Vista Church of Christ
LIFELINES
08/12/2020
Bobby Dockery
Fayetteville AR
I Will Fear No Evil
"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil..."
(Psalm 23.4)
We live in a fearful age: COVID-19, quarantines, economic uncertainty, riots, and Chinese communist belligerence. Many are incapacitated with uncertainty and fear.
But Paul declares: "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind! (2 Timothy1.7.) The word for "fear" here basically means "cowardice." The Amplified Bible has "craven, cringing, fawning fear." Paul tells us why we should fear no evil:
1) Because God Has Given Us Power!
The power of God is an awesome thing: It created the world; slew 185,000 warriors of Assyria in a single night; raised Christ from the dead; and one day, it will dissolve this world in fervent heat! What is there to fear linked to power like that?
2) Because God Has Given Us Love!
We are secure in God's love forever. "For He Himself has said, 'I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.'" (Hebrews 13.5.) "But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8.37-39.)
3) Because God Has Given Us Sound Thinking!
One translation has "a calm and well-balanced mind." God teaches us to put things in proper perspective... to see clearly and think rationally... to rise above ignorance and superstition. John 8.32.)
"Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea... (Because) God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." (Psalm 46.2,1.)
—Bobby Dockery
Fayetteville AR
