“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet” (Matthew 24:6).
Aren’t you thankful Jesus told us of things to come— and how we should respond. The Passion Translation says, “You will hear of wars and revolutions on every side, with more rumors of wars to come. Don’t panic or give in to your fears, for the breaking apart of the world’s systems is destined to happen. But it won’t yet be the end; it will still be unfolding.”
Fear is an enemy of faith.
I have personally battled fear in different arenas— but thankfully, I’ve never been afraid of the future. The Bible has been an anchor to my soul (Hebrews 6:19). What I mean by that is, God’s Word (and my faith in it) has held me steady through many storms. So how much more would it now in the midst of concerning events unfolding in our world?
The Bible says, “For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:5-6). I love how plain this is laid out for us. God said He would never abandon us and then He tells us how we should respond to this truth: by acknowledging and believing He is our help and therefore we WILL NOT fear.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
This is Hebrews 13:8, just a verse down from God’s reminder to us that there’s no reason to fear. And this is why. Jesus came to save— He is our Savior. Jesus came to restore— He is our Redeemer. Jesus came to give life— He is our Life.
It’s important to believe these truths and learn from Jesus Himself. Fear is never from God. It is always a tactic of the enemy to get our focus off God and His promises. When Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, He showed us how to deal with him. First of all, notice that all Satan could do was make suggestions. He whispered threats and lies but couldn’t actually harm Jesus.
This is true for you and I as well if we’ll keep our focus right. Three times the devil lied to Jesus and three times Jesus responded with God’s Word. “It is written…” (Matthew 4:4,7,10). This is how we should always respond too. And when we do, we’ll get the same results: “Then the devil left Him…”(Matthew 4:11).
Or we could say, then fear left Him, or then torment, lies, anxiety, depression (etc) left Him. Satan is behind all of these things. So when we use God’s Word against the devil, he can’t stick around. In fact, James said, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). In other words, yield to (put your faith in) God’s Word, oppose the devil with it, and watch the devil flee (run away from you)!
You must know it to use it.
The obvious here is you must know God’s Word to use God’s Word against the devil. What you don’t know can actually be detrimental to you— and Satan knows this. The Bible says, “lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices” (2 Corinthians 2:11). Don’t be naive. If he can, the devil will take advantage of current events (in the world itself or just in your world) to scare and frighten you. Again, his goal is to get you to focus anywhere else but on God and His promises.
So what do you do? Start reading your Bible regularly (daily). Start in the New Testament and read through the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, to learn the character of Jesus. Then continue reading to discover the promises of God to you as a believer, and our instructions for daily living by faith.
Multiple times Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Matthew 24:35). God’s Word is your anchor in the storm. No matter what else is going on, you can remain steady by clinging to the one thing that will last the test of time. So stay focused.
