Do not fear!

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Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglica...Image via Wikipedia"What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee." (Psalm 56:3)
 
"The only thing to fear is fear itself." This is a nice platitude, but it is altogether pointless without trust. There is no antidote to fear except trust in One who is able to deliver us from the thing we fear.
 
The first mention of fear in the Bible is significant. Adam said to God, "I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid" (Genesis 3:10).
 
Indeed, one should be afraid when he has ignored or rejected God's Word, for "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31). The same warning to sinners of all the ages is given in the Bible's final reference to fear. "But the fearful, and unbelieving, . . . shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death" (Revelation 21:8).
 
In contrast, note the last mention of fear in the Old Testament and the first in the New, both speaking of the entrance of the Son of God into the world. "But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings" (Malachi 4:2). "Fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife . . . she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:20-21).
 
Thus the remedy for the fear of man or anything else is the true fear of the Lord. "I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears" (Psalm 34:4). He has already endured everything we could ever fear, even death itself, that through His victory He might "deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage" (Hebrews 2:15). Therefore, since "the LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" (Psalm 27:1). 
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