Fear
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words of courage and hope: “Be of good cheer: for there shall be no
loss of any man’s life among you For there stood by me this night the
angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, saying, Fear not, Paul;
thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all
them that sail with thee.” In the faith of this promise Paul assured his
companions, “There shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you.”
So it came to pass. Because there was in that ship one man through
whom God could work, the whole shipload of heathen soldiers and
sailors was preserved. “They escaped all safe to land” (
Acts 27:22-24,
34, 44
).—
Education, 255, 256
(1903).
God Deals Plainly—But our Lord does not deceive us. He does
not say to us, “Do not fear; there are no dangers in your path.” He
knows there are trials and dangers, and He deals with us plainly. He
does not propose to take His people out of a world of sin and evil, but
He points them to a never-failing refuge. His prayer for His disciples
was, “I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but
that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” “In the world,” He says,
“ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the
world” (
John 17:15
;
16:33
).—
Steps to Christ, 122, 123
(1892).
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Look Away From Self—Look away from yourself to Jesus. You
may acknowledge that you are a sinner, while at the same time it is
your privilege to recognize Christ as your Saviour. He came not to call
the righteous, but sinners, to repentance. Difficulties and suggestions
will be presented by Satan to the human mind, that he may weaken
faith and destroy courage. He has manifold temptations that can
come trooping into the mind, one succeeding another; but to closely
study your emotions and give way to your feelings is to entertain
the evil guest of doubt, and by so doing you entangle yourself in
perplexities of despair. You may inquire, What shall I do under these
terrible suggestions? Expel them from the mind by looking at and
contemplating the matchless depths of a Saviour’s love. Do not exalt
your feelings and tell of them and worship them whether good, bad,
sad, or encouraging.—Lt 41, 1893.
Overcome Fear by Trust in Jesus—Jesus invites us to come to
Him and He will lift the weights from our weary shoulders and place
upon us His yoke, which is easy, and His burden, which is light. The
path in which He invites us to walk would never have cost us a pang
had we always walked in it. It is when we stray from the path of duty