Trust in God will conquer fear

“Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

Fear is dangerous. On the one hand, it can get us to act and bypass our thought process. On the other hand, it can get us to act and bypass our thought process. Sometimes that is good, sometimes that is not so good.

How do we know? Should I be afraid? Shouldn’t I be afraid?

Fear and reason don’t play well together. They make for a very difficult emotional experience. We all handle fear differently. Because of that, it can make our social relationships more strained. If you are afraid, you will take one line of action. If not, you will follow another. That translates to a bumpy discussion.

There is no question, we are afraid of the COVID-19 virus. That is not unreasonable. We know little about it, we are learning more but at the beginning of the outbreak, we didn’t know anything.

What do we do? How do we respond? No doubt many of the policies we experienced were a response to the unknown. As we learn more, policies change not without controversy. Because of fear. So how do we deal with the fear and its influence over our choices?

Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God (v 10a). Martin Luther wrote in the Large Catechism on the first commandment,

What does it mean to have a god? or, what is God? Answer: A god means that from which we are to expect all good and to which we are to take refuge in all distress, so that to have a God is nothing else than to trust and believe Him from the [whole] heart. . . . .

In Isaiah, God is saying that as your God, I am with you, trust me! This is why Luther’s point about what it means of have a god is relevant. As we fear, in whom in what do we trust? Where do we take refuge?

If you listen to the social discourse, we trust and ought to trust Science. It is claimed that Science will lead us to safety. Am I against Science? No, it will certainly be a part of the solution but science is a human endeavor with peaks and valleys. Science still needs human judgment and at times that judgment is flawed for many reasons including fear.

That is why God proclaims that I am the one in whom you take refuge. We work, as scientists, policy makers, business leaders, educators, to use the best of our ability and judgment. And we rigorously pray for them for they have a great burden. But in the end, it is God in whom we trust. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will uphold you with my victorious right hand (v. 10b).