Psalm Saturday

⁴ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Psalm 23:4 NIV.

When I read this verse I am comforted. I feel safe and protected by God no matter what. In our world there is so much evil and destruction it is easy to become overwhelmed. Watch the 24 hour news channels and you can quite easily become paranoid, bolting the doors, thinking that there are murderers and terrorists round every corner.

Is it that the world is worse now than say 20 years ago? Or is it that we have more access to up to the minute, breaking news reports which report every minute detail? I agree to an extent with the saying; 'ignorance is bliss'.

Christians are not supposed to live their lives in fear. We are to fear God, yes. We should not fear man and the world around us.
I think this means we shouldn't close ourselves away from the world either. God wants Christians in the world to tell others about Jesus and share the Gospel. If we live our lives fearing the world then how can we witness to the world? I have seen fear of the world in many Christians, (myself included), a desire to protect our children from worldly influences. It is natural to want to protect our kids but if we want their faith to grow then they do need to learn to cope with defending it in the world and also they can then be witnesses to others.

⁶So we say with confidence,
"The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?"^b]">[b]
Hebrews 13:6 NIV.

I do still feel fear though!!! Even though God tells me not to. And I can't even begin to think of the fear Christians living in persecuted areas must feel. The point here is that when we feel fearful then we should remember God's promise in Psalm 23. We should pray and seek God in the fearful situation. Quite clearly the verse says to fear no evil and that God will comfort. This is a wonderful promise to cling to when fear sets in all around.