Advent For Those Grieving | No. 05
ADVENT DAY FIVE
Fear not, for I am with you;be not dismayed, for I am your God;I will strengthen you, I will help you,I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.For I, the Lord your God,hold your right hand;it is I who say to you, “Fear not,I am the one who helps you."
Isaiah 41:10, 13
FEAR NOT
Fear seems to be inevitable when walking through grief. It grips our hearts and makes a playground of our minds. And yet, God desires more for us than the fear that so easily entangles us. In tenderness God whispers: "don't be afraid, I'm right here." In these two verses we see "I" used 6x. As God speaks to His people, He is reminding them that He is the one doing the work to bring about peace in our hearts. He is the one doing the heavy lifting. He is the one giving strength. He is the one helping. He is the one holding us up by His very own hand. We don't have to muster up the strength. We don't have to hold ourselves up.
If our eyes are on our circumstances, on the tragedy or on the loss or on the valley in front of us, inevitably our eyes are not on Him and fear quickly ensues. But when our eyes are on Him, we see a good Father, a protector, a strength-giver, a healer -- who is holding us up, who is walking alongside us, walking before us, leading us through the darkness. When our eyes are on Him we are reminded that He is our God who is lovingly holding us. When our eyes are on Him, fear loses it's power.
THE PROMISE
He will be with you. He will strengthen you. He will help you. He will hold you up. He will do the work.
PRAYER
Father, would you put our eyes on you? Would you meet us in the middle of our fear and remind us that You are there? Remind us that You are mighty and in control and that you have not forgotten about our pain. Thank you for being a gracious and tender and compassionate Father who never leaves us.
