We saw last week that a healthy fear of God leads to freedom from other fears in daily life. Of course, that does not mean that fears won’t arise. If they didn’t, we wouldn’t read so many times in Scripture the words “Fear not” or “Do not be afraid.” Fear is a natural response to potential threats. Suddenly feeling afraid when we perceive danger is normal. The question is what we do with that instinctive fear. Does it overtake us, haunting every moment? Or can we feel it, examine it and then release it to God?  

 

We can discover that when we fear God above all else, every other fear gets diminished in light of his constancy and care. A Biblical fear of God inspires us to keep the LORD as our constant reference point in everything. We entrust our whole lives to him, yielding our will to his will. That means we can trust that God will take care of everything. 

 

This contemporary icon of Mary holding the infant Jesus calms me every time I look at it. I’m reminded of the LORD’s words in Isaiah 49:15 in which God compares himself to a mother nursing a baby: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?” Of course, if asked we all would answer loudly, “Of course not! She would never forget her baby!” But the LORD goes on, “Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.” While this picture of the cheek-to-cheek love of mother and child comforts me, our God declares that his fear-quelling love runs deeper even than that.

 

God’s steadfast love and tender mercy moved him to come to us as a little child who needed a mother’s care. Without Mary and Joseph, the infant Jesus could not have survived. Yet, as the poet William Everson writes, “[W]hat they nervously guarded / Guarded them.” (William Everson, “The Flight in the Desert,” The Value of Sparrows, December 28, 2016) As you look at this image, imagine both Mary and Jesus saying wordlessly to each other, “Fear not. I am here.” This week we will seek to be located in this peace-creating love of God that stills our fears.

 

Genesis 15:1-6

 

After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

 

We return once more (see Day 8) to the foundational story of Abram who became forever known as Abraham, the father of the multitude of God’s people. The LORD had promised him offspring as numerous as the sands, a people through whom the world would be blessed. Yet even long after Abram’s call to leave his homeland and journey to Canaan, the fulfillment of this promise seemed very far away. Abram wondered if, after all his trials, this glorious heritage would ever come to be.

 

In today’s passage, Abram has just returned from freeing his nephew Lot from capture by kings of neighboring clans. One of Abram’s allies offers him a share in the spoils of victory, but Abram declines the reward, not wanting to be obligated to his neighbor. Abram denies himself the momentary treasure. But then the LORD speaks to him with the promise of a greater reward, saying, “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” Would God fulfill his long-ago promise at last?

 

Abram has been waiting a long time, and he wants to see some tangible evidence. He reminds the LORD that he does not have even one heir. In response, God leads him out into the night and tells Abram that his descendants will be as numerous as the countless stars. This revelation under the dramatic night sky inspires Abram’s faith once again. He does not immediately see the future fulfilled, but he trusts the God who made the promise. As we read in the famous verse, “Abram believed the LORD and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Above all else, God prized Abram’s trust during the in-between time, the long empty stretch between promise and fulfillment. 

 

Here we notice how the encouragement to “fear not” becomes a reality when Abram trusts God once more with his future. This confidence aligns with knowing he has God himself as his shield and truest reward. Abram possesses God, in all his grace and favor before he has the specifics of the promised future enacted. And it proves to be enough.