Hello siblings
It’s good to be back. Thanks to those who reached out to me, more thanks to you who’ve been praying for me. If you did neither, that’s fine – life happens.
The story is told of a hiker who got lost in the mountains where there was heavy snow. It is said that he fell and the fall was broken by a tree limb. So, he cried out to God for help, and God responded, ‘Jump’. The hiker insisted that he was scared, and so he didn’t wish to jump. God’s response was, ‘I’ll catch you.’
Siblings, although the story is the figment of someone’s imagination, it does reflect the many sessions we have faced in our journeys in life. How many storms have we been caught in, only to hear God say, ‘Jump.’? In such instances, it’s not easy to take that leap from fear to faith. It makes a huge difference in our future journeys, however. Consider Today’s Holy Nougat.
Psalms 34:4 NIV
[4] I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.
The Other Side of Deliverance
Siblings, I was ready to pick up at the next verse. Then I heard that still small voice … ‘What if God decides to deliver us by inviting us to face our fears?’
Oy. That’s some serious stuff right there! But it invites us to think differently about facing our fears. And it does sound like something God might invite us to do.
Self-Check
How do we respond when God invites us to jump? Do we go into free fall, or do we hold on to the limb for dear life?
Application
Siblings, before we visit David’s story, let’s remember that Moses had to face his fear called pharaoh. Or, some might say, ‘his past’. Moses had not dealt with the consequences of his actions of 40 years prior. God indicated that deliverance for the Children of Israel began with facing that hurdle. There, on the back side of Mt Horeb, God invited Moses to let go of the shepherding limb he was holding on to in the wilderness, and jump into the future God planned for him.
It was the same for David. We’re told that this psalm was a response to being driven away from Abimelek’s presence while David fled from Saul. David also had to face his fear. That’s how he knew God could deliver him! It wasn’t just a random thought. He spoke from experience.
American comedian, Ali Siddiq, once shared in an interview that his sister and his granny forced him to face 8 boys who sought him out. Hear his granny’s logic:
‘If they require 8 folks to come get 1 of you, it means they are scared of you!’ It was a game-changer.
His sister, who’d been the one to call their granny in the first place, said simply,
‘I’ve got your back. No one will get you from behind.’
And that’s part of what God does. God insists that we face our fears so we can see that God’s got our backs. God will even fight our battles or shift the odds. Because whatever we face is always about each of us facing it with God. We are never left alone with what we fear. That’s why we have the assurance that we will be delivered. For our God is with us.
The ending of the introductory story doesn’t have to be ours. The rescue team doesn’t have to find us 1M above ground, frostbitten and desperately holding on to a tree limb! We have the assurance that the Eternal God (Kedem Elohim) is our refuge, and Kedem Elohim literally upholds us with a mighty arm. The verse further states that Elohim will thrust the enemy from before us (see Deuteronomy 33:27)! When we jump, God’s assurance is that we’ll be caught – by God!
You might be saying, like Moses, David, or me – ‘it’s a bit scary to face my fears.’ Y’shua is saying, ‘I faced and conquered Death for you, you can overcome that obstacle too.’ I pray that in this season, we will choose to hear Him.
Point to Ponder
In Judges 4, Barak of Kedesh told Deborah the prophetess that he would only face fear if she accompanied him. Might we opt to ask God for accompaniment to face our fears? Selah
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May all we seek be found in Christ
