Jump Start # 3415

Isaiah 41:10 “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

First, let me say that I am alive. Second, let me say that it was amazing. Third, let me say that it was intense. Last Thursday I went sky diving. Yes, you read that right. Old me, went skydiving. It was not on my bucket list. It was not on any list of mine. My youngest son, Joel, works for a doctor. Last Christmas he bought the two of them skydiving gift certificates. The doc declined. Next in line was dear ole’ dad. All year we have kicked the can down the road of when we were going to do this. I happened to be in his area last week preaching so we scheduled it for last Thursday. My sweet wife offered to repay the price of the gift certificates if we wouldn’t go. She wasn’t worried about us going splat on the ground, but more so of having a stroke or heart attack on the way down.

So we did it. My son is fearless. I passed fearless many decades ago and am very cautious and conservative. I will say that it was amazing. We jumped tantum, which means an instructor is strapped very snugly to you. They got us all harnessed up and checked it two or three times by different people. Several were there to jump, but it was just Joel, myself, our tantum instructors, and two photographers who jumped first to take photos of us.

The side door of the plane opened, like a garage door. The first photographer jumped. My instructor scooted me to the opening. Before I could have a moment, out the door we fell. That part was scary, intense and I thought I was going to die. I had in my mind that as we free fell it would be like a roller coaster, so fast and scary. But it wasn’t. Even though we were falling fast, it was smooth and the view was amazing. He pulled the parachute cord and we floated like a feather all the way down. Joel was doing spins and hard turns as he came down, but I told my man that I didn’t want that.

We landed and realized what we had just done, we high fived our instructors and hugged each other. Would I do it again? I don’t think my wife has that in her to go through that again. I’m not sure I do either.

Our verse today reminds us of fearful times and anxious moments. Unlike sky diving, those moments most times are not willful choices that we make. A sudden car accident. A simple medical exam that leads to more tests and the dreaded word, “Cancer.” Fearful, anxious and unsure, our passage gives us four wonderful thoughts to carry in our hearts.

First, the text tells us more than do not fear. That’s hard to do when you are scared. But the way through that fear is to know that the Lord is with us. That’s the promise of Psalms 23 and those dark valleys of death. Daniel saw that. Shadrach saw that. Moses saw that. Noah saw that. Peter saw that. There were moments when they looked death in the face and were scared, but God was with them.

Second, do not anxiously look around you. Don’t look around, look up. Look up to the Lord. Looking around, we see all the reasons to be afraid. Outnumbered. Out armed. Out of options. When all we look at are our problems, then fear will get the best of us. Don’t look around, unless you are sky diving.

Third, I am your God. What a great statement of comfort and hope. He didn’t just say, “I am the Lord,” or “I Am that I Am.” Instead, the passage reminds us, the Lord is OUR God. Remember how Jesus taught the disciples to pray? “Pray this way,” He said. “Our Father who art in Heaven.” Our Father. Our God. There is a relationship. A belonging. A fellowship between us. He knows us and we know Him.

And, with God, all things are possible. And, with God, the greatest hope, help and love is found. Don’t be afraid. I am your God. Pray hard. Dig deeply into His word.

Fourth, I will strengthen you, I will help you. It’s one thing to have God near, but if He wasn’t going to do anything, we’d still fight our battles alone. But He is more than just there. He provides strength. He will help. He can open doors that seem impossible to open. He can move hearts that seem closed. He can put people together. When everyone else says, “there is no hope,” God can still do things. He sees what no one else sees. He is already in tomorrow.

Notice, the passage doesn’t say that God will take away the cause of our fear. That’s what we want. Remove it and then we will be find. Rather, God will help you and strengthen you so you can face it. Don’t run from your giants or lions. Face them. Face them, not on your own. Face them, not with your might. Rather, face them with God. The victory always belongs to the Lord.

For about 8,000 feet, last Thursday, I was falling rapidly to the earth. The chute opened, and I was like a bird drifting gently back to where I belong. And, the Lord kept me safe.

Roger

Jump Start # 1405

Isaiah 41:10 “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

  God is reminding the nation that He is with them and although they stand alone and stand different from all the other nations, they have God on their side. Later in this section it is repeated, “Do not fear…”

The expression, “fear not,” is found over 300 times in the Bible. Fear can be crippling. For the small child, he will pull the covers over his head at night until he cannot stand it anymore and then he will race to his parents bed. The fear of making a mistake or the fear of failure can keep some from trying. The fear of rejection is enough for some to turn down a date. Some fear getting a disease and they worry about those things. Some fear dying and they do everything they can to be healthy. There are so many fears that there are lists of phobias. I think one of the most unusual ones is phobia-o-phobia, the fear of fear.

Some of our fears are imagined. We have it in our minds that something is going to be terrible and after we go through the experience, we realize that it’s not so bad. The fear was all in our heads. Public speaking can be that way for some. It is really a killer for some to do it. They sweat, their knees knock, their voice quivers and it looks like they are enduring surgery. This is the way it is for many. But speaking a few times before the congregation and they learn to manage it and in time they actually learn to be comfortable before others. We can work our selves up in to a real mess when we imagine having to say something difficult to another person– a meeting with your boss, the elders at church want to talk to you, you want to quit college and fear having that conversation with your parents. We can almost get sick thinking about having those conversations.

Some fears are based upon past experiences. Years ago, a guy ran a red light and plowed into me. Even today, when I pass through an intersection and I catch a car coming fast up to the light, I hesitate. I remember what happened before. Bad experiences can ruin us. A bad experience with a dentist and a person may just never go to any dentist again. His teeth will be a mess. Someone who has had a bad experience at church may decide never to go again. His soul will be a mess. Someone who has had a bad experience at a restaurant may never eat at that place again.

Fear keeps us from evangelizing. We fear what to say. We fear what they may say back. We fear not knowing how to answer a question. Mostly, we fear someone slamming the door in our face and making fun of us. That fear, keeps our lips silent.

It was fear that caused the disciples to wake Jesus up in the midst of a storm on the sea. They thought they were dying. They asked the Lord, “Do you not care that we are perishing?” It was fear that caused Peter to sink while walking on the water. He saw the wind and waves and fear took over.

Fear will silence our prayers. Fear will makes doubts arise. Fear will make us want to just get back in bed and pull the covers over our head. One of the greatest fears must be in thinking we will not make it to Heaven. We look at our lives and realize that we haven’t done much. We remember sins in our lives. We know all too well that there have been times when we didn’t pay attention in church, there we times when we didn’t read our Bibles, there were times when we made the wrong choice in life.

Such fears may come from not understanding God. We may equate God with the cop who is sitting in his car with his radar gun pointed right at us as we drive down the road. God is watching we are told. We teach the children the song, “Be careful little eyes what you see, be careful little eyes what you see, for the Father up above is looking down in love, be careful little eyes what you see.” There it is, right there in that song. The Father up above is looking down….He’s nailed us. This distorted view of God leads us to thinking that God is never happy with us. Like the high school coach shouting at his team, God wants more out of us. More prayers. More attendance. More, more, more. We fear such a God.

Such fears also come from misunderstanding grace. We talk a good game when it comes to grace, but at the end of the day, it’s perfection that we live by. Perfect attendance. Perfect answers. Perfect choices. Perfect, perfect, perfect. And here we are, not perfect. We don’t always have the right answers. We don’t always make the right choices. Knowing this, coupled with a misunderstanding of God, has caused so many Christians to fear death. It’s not the dying part that is so terrible, it’s knowing on the other side God will not be pleased. They worship in fear. They sing in fear. They walk, not by faith, but out of fear. They are terrified of God. Grace is hard to understand. The guy who claims he has grace all thought out and figured out, probably doesn’t. Some see grace as a one way ticket to Heaven. You do nothing, God does it all. That’s not what the Bible teaches. We know that. Faith without works is dead, James said. Dead faith isn’t going to make God happy. We are God’s workmen, created for good works, Paul wrote. Let your light shine that they may see your good works is what Jesus said.

We are not saved by ourselves. We are not saved by perfection. God’s grace is what saves us. That grace is based upon our faith in Jesus. That faith leads us to obey God, even though that obedience will not always be right. Our hope is not in ourselves, but in Christ. God wants us to be saved. He has done so much to make that possible. He has given the best in Heaven, Jesus. He has recorded and preserved His wonderful word. He has left footprints from others that lead us to Him. God is on our side.

This is what the Isaiah passage is driving at. God is with you. God is for you. Do not fear, God is with you. Fear, worry and doubt are really faith issues. The greater the faith, the less the fear and worry. When faith lacks, fear and worry takes over. So what will drive out the fear in your life, grow your faith. Spend more time in the Gospels. See Jesus as He moves and operates around those people. See His love. See His concern. See that He is wanting all of us to be disciples, followers of Him. He wants us to trust Him. He wants us to believe Him. So when He says that He goes to prepare a place for us, we know that is a promise that is true and right.

Grow that faith. Protect that faith. Feed that faith. Use that faith. In doing that, you’ll find fear leaving you. Paul tells us that there was a crown of righteousness awaiting him, and not just for him, but for all those who have loved his appearing. Paul kept, Paul finished, Paul fought. There is  a fight we must engage in. There is a course that we must finish. There is a faith that we must keep. But in doing so, our love, trust and confidence in the Lord will soar.

Fear not…Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so!

Roger