Overcoming Fear

I have just come back from Korea and was present at the height of the war of words with which the current Korean leader was threatening to fire a missile on Monday 15th April, the birthday of North Korea’s founder, Kim Il Sung.

I was sitting in an apartment in the very centre of Seoul, close to some of the suspected military targets. The threat of war on the peninsula was very real and I have to admit that for a few days I was very scared and alarmed. The enemy prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking those whom he may devour and I was certainly being swallowed up and engulfed with fear!

I read all the news reports I could find, hoping to find something that would calm my fears. Did it work? Not really. I knew I was attempting to find or manufacture my own peace and for a short time I forgot that the Lord Jesus told us that He wanted to leave us with His peace - a peace which the world cannot give, nor understand.

No calming news reports that toned down the situation could really help me and it was only as I was asking the Lord Jesus for reassurance that a still small voice came from within. His word came right into my heart, where it had been hidden and it simply said ‘a thousand might fall at your right hand but it will not come near you’ (Psalm 91:7).

The Lord’s Word says ‘I have hidden your word in my heart so that I might not sin against you’ So, as long as we keep immersing ourselves in the written word of God and listening to how His Spirit witnesses it to us when we need it, it will come to our conscious minds and, as in this case, give us God’s peace and His reassurance.

Scripture exhorts us to fix our eyes on Him, the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12). I confess that, before I asked the Lord to reassure me, I was fixing my attention and thoughts on events around me. By doing this I was giving too much attention to the prowling and roaring enemy and was becoming more and more frightened. Psalm 23 says that the Lord prepares a table (for us) in the midst of our enemies. We are safe in the Lord no matter what is going on around us. Now, whatever happens on the Korean peninsula, I have a peace that the Lord has given me.

Prayer: Lord God, thank You for Your word and for speaking to us. Thank You for Your peace which only you can give. . Thank You too that You are the Lord over every situation and circumstance and when You speak directly into a situation You release us from fear. Help us to remember to dwell in Your word so that we can become more accustomed to Your voice and not be distracted by the loud roaring of the evil one. In Jesus name, Amen.