Day 39: Fear Not When God Does Something New
Posted on: April 16, 2025
by: Gerrit Dawson, Senior Pastor
by: Gerrit Dawson, Senior Pastor
Every day, pray aloud worshipfully this golden thread that weaves through the entire tapestry of God’s intent for us.
Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD,
when I will make a new covenant with the
house of Israel. . . .
I will put my law within them,
and I will write it on their hearts.
And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
They shall all know me, from the least of them
to the greatest. . . .
For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will
remember their sin no more.
(Jeremiah 31:31, 33-34)
Daily Scripture
Luke 1:26-32, 38
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.”
And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”
Matthew 1:19-21
And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Luke 2:8-14
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
Picking Up the Thread

We love the Christmas story. Even if we have heard it for decades, we still find great comfort in hearing it again each year because we know how the story ends. But for the characters in the historical moment, this news of a savior being born of a virgin undid every certainty.
Mary, betrothed, chaste, awaiting her wedding day, is told by an angel that she will conceive a child by the power of the Holy Spirit who will be the long-awaited Savior, the very Son of God. Joseph, a righteous and devout man, learns that his fiancé is pregnant but is instructed by an angel to marry her anyway and protect the child who will save his people. On a typical night watch, the shepherds behold the heavenly realm breaking into the ordinary world. An angel and the hosts of heaven light up the midnight sky with power and glory that could destroy the shepherds.
For Mary, Joseph and the shepherds, what God is doing is terrifying. This is the end of a predictable life. Disgrace, rejection and destruction could follow. In each case, the LORD sends an angel to speak peace to their terror: “Fear not.” “Do not be afraid.” What seems at first dismaying is actually good news of great joy. God has entered the world as a child. He has come to save his people. In each case, the angel’s message is astonishingly personal: What is happening through you will resound throughout the earth and all the way to the heavens. God will be glorified by what he does through you in this time.
Each of these characters took courage from God’s word through the angels. They went forward in faithfulness. And thus they participated crucially in the great salvation God would accomplish through Jesus.
Stitching It In
So far, we have been considering fears borne of not being able to see the future or from immediate enemies that mean us harm. Today, we realize that fear can arise through something new and even wonderful that God desires to do in our midst.
When the Spirit starts to stir in us we can wonder at first if this is a threat or an opportunity. We are led toward a new direction, and it unsettles us. We may well ask questions like these:
~ If I move out of my parents’ house, will I be able to
support myself?
~ If I accept this new assignment, will I be able to complete it?
Or will this new position reveal my inadequacies and sink me
into failure?
~ If I take a stand alongside this friend, will I be destroyed if he
goes down?
~ If I don’t leave this trauma buried but let it be exhumed and examined, will it overwhelm me again?
~ If I come clean and bring this shame to light, will I be rejected? Humiliated? Fired? Arrested? Can I really be free of the guilt, or does only condemnation await?
~ If I decide to forgive, will it make what they did to me no longer wrong? Will they get away with it?
~ What if the thing I don’t want to look at is the very thing I need to see, own and bring before the LORD for my healing?
God loves us as we are. He also loves us enough not to let us stay as we are. He has so much more for us. When he moves in our lives, we may well feel fear. These Christmas stories bring us the angel words as personal encouragement. Do not fear moving forward. What is conceived is of the Holy Spirit!
Perhaps right now you are evaluating something that is stirring within you. Can you offer it to God? Can you say along with Isaiah, “Here I am, send me” (Isaiah 6:8)? Can you ask with David, “Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation” (Psalm 25:5)? May God speak courage to you for the next step of his work!
Praying Along the Pattern
I really prefer to be comfortable, Lord!
Safe, predictable, peaceful, steady, sound
Is the way I like it. But I know you know
I am not yet where you call me to be.
It takes so much energy to risk
Forgiveness, surface old wounds,
Open the door to a new calling,
Drop grudges, stop blaming, start anew.
I fear what you have for me!
Yet you are the God of my salvation.
Apart from you, I have no good.
Speak to me now, “Fear not!”
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Lent