"Fighting Fraudulent Fear"

THE WORD:
"So do not fear, for I am with you; 
    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."


~Isaiah 41:10


DEVOTION:
This is a powerful verse that speaks to us about how God cares for us. We need not fear or be dismayed because of who He is.


1. "I am with you"
We do not need to have fear, worry, or anxiety in our lives because God is with us. He has a plan to give us hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). When we spend time worrying and being anxious, we are telling God: "I don't trust that you have everything in control." Instead of wasting time wondering where life will go next, be thankful that God is with you wherever you are.


Recently I had brain scans that showed that there is no sign of my illness. My rheumatologist told me that I can now transition off the chemotherapy and move on to a new medication. While this was supposed to be really great news, I thought, "What if I still get sick again in the future?" My illness can flare up at any time. Just because there isn't any activity now does not mean it will never come back. But why spend time worrying if it will come back? If it does come back, I trust that God will be with me - just like He was with me during the last three times this illness had flared. And if I get sick again, I trust that God has a purpose greater than my illness.


2. "I am your God"
A lot of people often forget who God is. God is the Creator of the Universe. He is omniscient. He is power and glory. And even with all this, He chooses to love us as our Father. J.B. Phillips is the author of the book, "Your God is too Small." In this book, he showed how many people forget the greatness of God, and then they become dismayed.


3. "I will strengthen you"
God will strengthen you. What a great promise! A friend of mine posted the reference to this Bible verse on my Facebook wall several months ago, and it brought so much encouragement to me during that time in my life. I had just been released from the hospital and struggling to return to regular life. I felt weak and tired all the time. But this verse says that God will strengthen you. Maybe He won't give you superhuman powers to move mountains, but he will provide strength for your heart and mind to persist through your current circumstances, so that you can continue to run the race He has set forth for you.


4. "and help you"
God is our Helper. All we need to do is ask. There is a popular quote that talks about God's answers to prayer:
"Yes,"
"not now,"
Or
"I have something better in mind."


When I was younger, I struggled with living in a stressful family situation. I prayed to God and asked Him to rescue me. To provide a way for me to escape. I asked Him to help me get top grades in school so I can get a great scholarship to attend the university of my choice and finally leave home. Instead, in my last year of high school, I was diagnosed with my neurological illness - something that will affect me for the rest of my life.


When I got sick at 17, I thought that was it. God forgot about me and instead of rescuing me, He made me even more dependent on my parents. But this trial ended up being a blessing in disguise. Because I got sick, my mom sent me to live with my aunt in the west coast because my mom knew I couldn't fully recover while living in a stressful home environment. And this turned out to be one of the best decisions in my life. Moving to the west coast was definitely not what I had in mind when I prayed to God for my rescue, but this move led me to attend a great university, meet new best friends, and through them - I met my husband.


Sometimes God helps us differently than how we imagined He would - we just need to trust Him and be patient for His plan to be revealed to us.


5. "I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
Don't worry about falling down, because God will hold you up. In His righteous right hand, there is no room for fear. Fear is the opposite of everything that God wants for you. Fear and joy cannot coexist. Neither can fear and love, fear and peace, fear and hope. Someone said that fear is :


False
Evidence
Appearing
Real


Give your fears to God in exchange for joy, love, peace and hope in His hand.


Prayer:
Dear God, You are great and wonderful. You know everything about me, even when I sit or when I stand. I am sorry for the times when I have made You too small and doubted Your goodness. I thank you for being with me in everything through out life, and that You carry me when I am too weak to carry myself. I thank You for strengthening me and helping me in times of need. I ask that You reveal Yourself more to me  so I can feel Your presence in my times of trouble.


Application:
How does knowing that God is here to help and strengthen you bring you comfort? Someone said that fear is "false evidence appearing real," can you think of any parts of your life that is presenting fear? How can you replace fear with love, joy, peace, or hope?


Worship:
"My Savior My God" - Aaron Shust
I am not skilled to understand
What God has willed, what God has planned
I only know at His right hand
Stands one who is my Savior 


I take Him at His word and deed
Christ died to save me; this I read
And in my heart I find a need
Of Him to be my savior


That He would leave His place on high
And come for sinful man to die
You count it strange, so once did I
Before I knew my Savior 


My Savior loves, My Savior lives
My Savior's always there for me
My God: He was, my God; He is
My God is always gonna be