FEAR NOT! FACE 2022 WITH GOD ON YOUR SIDE!

In the name of Jesus Christ, who sought you, who saved you, who still remains

with you, dear Christian friends, If you are looking down the barrel of a loaded .22 aimed at your face, what thoughts and emotions surge over you? My thoughts, not necessarily in this order, might be: “Why is this gun pointed at me? Who is the person pointing it at me and is

he/she mentally stable? What pain will I feel if that trigger is pulled and will I survive?”

If those are not exactly your thoughts, would you agree your thoughts would include

fear?

Tonight, you are looking down the barrel of a ’22 as 2022 is about to explode

into your lives. What thoughts and emotions surge over you— anticipation...over the

expected arrival of a baby, joy...knowing that you graduate this year, comfort...confident

that God’s got this? How much does fear play in when considering next year?

Speaking of a .22 caliber gun, I know the horrible possibility of more school

shootings still exists. Coronavirus and its variants hit the headlines every day to keep us

questioning the length of our lives. Inflation and other economic issues confront us and

we consider if we can financially survive.

What follows the word “fear” in your vocabulary and your thinking? Fear...full?

Fear...everything? Fear...not? It is the latter phrase that comes from God! He inspires it for us. He instructs it in us. He instills it in us.

The words are heard more familiarly in the words of the angel to the Virgin Mary

and again to the shepherds, announcing the birth of Jesus, but most of you have also

heard and may remember these words from the God-inspired quill of the prophet

Isaiah:

Isaiah 43:1-3a But now, this is what the LORD says— he who created you,

O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed

you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. 3 For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

FEAR NOT! FACE 2022 WITH GOD ON YOUR SIDE!