My words are being written to you on the second last day of 2020. We are two days away from the completion of our country’s exit from the European community, and Parliament has just overwhelmingly approved that decision. However we each feel about that, it is a huge change to our way of life, how we see ourselves as a country, and how we relate to our European neighbours. We are also caught up in the second wave of Covid 19 infections which are rising faster and higher than the first wave, back in March and April. Once again our NHS staff are stretched to the limit, and hospital A&E and Wards in danger of being overwhelmed, and most of us are facing further weeks of tight restrictions and possible lock down.
We go into 2021 uncertain about many things. As Christians we aren’t immune to the anxieties and difficulties of living through these hard months. We get lonely without the usual company, frustrated by all the restrictions, worried about ourselves and our family, anxious about our jobs, stressed going to the shops, afraid to use public transport. It’s a long list of losses we never thought would happen to us.
Uncertain about many things, but as Christians there are also some game-changing certainties. Here are some of them. Read them slowly:
“Though I walk through the valley of deep darkness, I will fear no evil. Your rod and staff comfort me.”
“I look to the hills. Where does help come from? Help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.”
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name, you are mine.”
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me…Remain in me and I will remain in you...as the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Now remain in my love.”
Older translations said “abide in me and I in you.” The word means to take up residence, our Scottish word “bide” comes from the same word family. Whatever else is going on in the world, there is a safe place to bide and remain; in the love of God. In fact Jude 21 says as much: “Keep yourselves in God’s love, as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.”
As we go into 2021, there are new hopes for vaccines and later in the year a less restricted way of life. Nothing is certain of course. Well, except, when God says something it stays said! God keeps his promises. “My word shall not return to me empty, but will accomplish the purpose for which I sent it.”
So when God says “Fear not”, God means it. Of course reading those words, and even taking them to heart, doesn’t take away all our fears, anxieties, worries, problems and uncertainties. We are human, and God knows that and understands our weakness. “Fear not” is God’s reminder to us that no matter what we are dealing with, we are not on our own.
Where does help come from? The Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. What about the dark valleys, steep hills, and blind corners? I will fear no evil for Thou art with me! But how do I know that? “Remain in my love”; make your home in the love of God, That’s where you bide. Know that whatever else changes, God changes not, his compassions they fail not.
Now there’s a strange statistic going the rounds. In answer to the question, How many times does the phrase “Fear not” appear in the Bible - the number is given as 365 times, once for each day of the year. It’s a good statistic – but it isn’t correct. Nothing like that many. One scholar, using various translations and lexicons struggled to get anywhere near 300!
But here’s the thing. God doesn’t need to repeat himself. Once God says something, it stays said. If God says it once, it stands as God’s word. Given the steadfast love of the Lord, the faithfulness and mercy of our God, “He has given us his very great and precious promises…” (2 Peter 1.4).
We go into 2021 with its uncertainties, but God is before us and after us, ahead of us and behind us, and his promises are as secure as His word. “Fear not, for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name, and you are mine”. Whatever awaits each of us in the next year, God’s love is the underlying constant of our lives. Christ is our refuge, and in him we abide, and nothing, nothing can separate us from the Love of the triune God of Grace, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Hold on to that truth, about the God who holds on to you.
(First written to our Church community in Montrose)
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