Take Heart!

In the movie “Bridge of Spies”, set during the early days of the Cold War, one of the characters is a Soviet spy who’s been captured by the United States.  Despite the pressure put upon him by his captors, he maintains a stoic loyalty to his home country.  Eventually, he is asked by his U.S. government appointed defense attorney why he isn’t showing more fear.  His response: “Would it help?”

It seems to me that there’s a lot of fear in the general population right now.  There are a number of reasons for it, and I’m not making light of them.  However, I do think it’s appropriate to remind God’s people of His promises to them. I recommend to you Psalm 91:
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”  Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.  He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.  You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.  A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.  You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.

If you make the Most High your dwelling—even the Lord, who is my refuge—then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.  For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.  You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.  “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will protect him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.  He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.  With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

The psalmist doesn’t tell us we won’t face trouble, but that the Lord will be with us through it and will deliver us.  Jesus parallels this promise when he’s talking with his disciples in the upper room about what’s about to come: “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world.”  -- John 16:33
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~Keith Miller