God has chosen to limit Himself to partnership with us on earth. God won’t violate our free will, and Satan can’t override it by force. It’s always up to us. Our choices either empower God to bless us, or empower the devil to destroy us. Our opening text declares this truth, so how can we limit God? In this Bible study series, we’ve looked at the problems we have with mouth mismanagement, unforgiveness, unconfessed sin, an unrenewed mind, uncontrolled flesh, disobedience, a lack of love and a lack of faith. In this edition of Christian Soldier, we examine fear of the future.

And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” Luke 21:25-28

This passage is a direct reference to the state of affairs on earth at the end of the 7-year Tribulation, but the signs that Jesus gives are very much in play today. Indeed, these things have begun to happen. Look around. Everywhere you see these signs. Nations are in “distress with perplexity”. That means they are dealing with stressful, complex problems they don’t know how to solve. The “sea” and the “waves” are “roaring”. That refers to large groups of people (nationalities, language groups, religious groups, etc.) crying out for help, and not getting any. Men’s hearts are “failing from fear” and the “expectation of things to come”. That means people are falling over dead for fear of the future. The message for us today? Christians who allow this to happen to them will limit God’s ability to be great in their lives.  

Surely he will never be shaken, the righteous will be in everlasting remembrance. He will not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is established; he will not be afraid, until he sees his desire upon his enemies. Psalms 112:6-8

The subject of this psalm is the lifestyle of a righteous believer who fears God. We see how this person handles the affairs of this life, and deals with adversity. Notice the word “surely” in verse 6. A righteous person (which would be us after the new birth experience) has no doubts about God’s ability to provide and protect His own. It was what Paul declared in Romans 8:31-39, and what the Holy Spirit tells us today. No matter what happens tomorrow or any day thereafter, if God be for us, nobody can be against us. Nobody means nobody, especially the devil and those doing his bidding. Twice in these verses from Psalms 112 we’re told this type of believer will never fear the future. Why? Because if our hearts are steadfast and established on the word of God, there is nothing to be afraid of! God’s word is chock full of exceedingly great and precious promises, and they haven’t change one bit

(2 Peter 1:2-4).  

God is well able to be great in our lives, especially in times like these. He watches over His word and is ever ready to perform it in our lives (Jeremiah 1:12). But if we let fear paralyze us like it has already paralyzed millions worldwide, we limit God and empower the devil! At that point, we are basically on our own! That’s not a good place to be!

Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Psalms 37:3

Let God’s faithfulness be your spiritual sustenance daily, and as often as necessary during the day. I encourage you to meditate on all of Psalm 37. Truly, it is food for our soul in these dark times. 

Between the demonically controlled puppets in the world of politics, academia, medicine, sports and entertainment, and the never-ending attempts to twist truth or hide it completely through their lapdog liars in the mainstream media and social media, the temptation to let fear take over is great. Don’t let that happen! Like what Jesus said in John 14:27 – don’t let your heart become troubled or afraid. Fix your attention on God and God alone. Nothing else. Don’t lean on your own understanding of things either, because what we know with secular or personal issues is always limited. We never know the dark details the devil works so hard to hide, but God sees and knows everything (Proverbs 3:5-6). That’s why it is so important to pray in tongues daily because the Holy Spirit gives us the words to pray, based upon His complete knowledge of the situations we pray about (Jude 1:20).

You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Isaiah 26:3

When we decide to trust the Lord and feed on His word consistently, our minds become stable and renewed (Romans 12:2). When that happens, we enter the realm of perfect peace! No sinner can ever find the realm of perfect peace, and even amongst Christians, few there be who live in it. When we labor to enter His rest, we enter the divine realm of perfect peace, and that all starts with a simple decision to trust God, and ignore the screaming vitriol and tirades of hate out there in the world. 

In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you. Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me. Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake. Isaiah 54:14-15

God’s word plainly tells us that in this world, we will surely face oppression, fear and terror. But He also tells us that none of that comes from Him, and if we refuse to limit God’s greatness, anyone who assembles against us will falter and fail. When oppression, fear and terror rule the day in our lives, we handcuff God and limit the Holy One of Israel. The world’s future is dark with oppression, fear and terror, but for true believers, the future is bright and full of reassurance and hope. For me and my house, we choose to trust God today, tomorrow and forever. Make your choice and do the same!  

Notice this in our opening passage from Psalms. The people of God didn’t just limit Him occasionally. They did it again and again. Don’t be like them. When we have faith for the future instead of fear of the future, no good thing will God ever withhold from us. Instead of failing God again and again with fear and unbelief, you’ll be triumphant in Christ again and again. It’s your choice!  

Never forget this truth: A double-minded man is one who tries to live in faith and fear at the same time. They get nothing from the Lord. 

James 1:6-8