DON'T BE AFRAID...

BEFORE GOD SPOKE HE ANNOUNCED "DO NOT BE AFRAID".

Fear is a feeling of perceived danger, it is an unpleasant feeling, a belief that something is dangerous and is a threat. Fear is crippling and if strong enough can interfere with one's normal ability. Throughout the Bible there were quite a few times when the Lord or someone assigned by the Lord had been sent to speak to a child of God and announced 'do not be afraid'.

An angel of the Lord appeared to a priest by the name of Zacharias as he was standing at the altar in the temple, he became troubled and fear fell upon him. But the angel of the Lord said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son..."- Luke 1:11-20 NKJV

When the angel Gabriel visited Mary "Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!" but Mary was troubled (she was afraid) probably wondering who it was. Then the angel of the Lord said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God..."-Luke1:28-33 NKJV

God made this announcement to be received without interferance of too much emotion; anxiety and fear. God is a gentelman and will not impose himself upon you even in a dream, vision or trance. God announces to us His plans but the Holy Spirit is unable to dwell in a place filled with an atmosphere that hinders His ability to speak, reveal and interact. I have often imagined being Mary and having an angel, an abnormal being enter my presence in the name of the Lord to request me to host the man of God, or having other encounters. The reality is, God is the same yesterday, today and forever. What He has been doing then He is still doing now and will continue. We need to have a heart, attitude and ability to receive such encounters. Many times I have prayed and asked God for things or for Him to reveal Himself to me, but I have never thought of Him allowing me to have these types of encounters. To be able to see an angel, see the Lord standing next to me like that of a man/woman similar to an experience that Abraham had. As children of God, God has many things He has to say and wants to reveal to us are you ready to receive Him?

'Do not be afraid', do not fret, do not have anxiety, do not worry, do not be troubled. Zacharias was praying to God and got a direct response to his prayer but was baffled and hindered by unbelief. Fear was his response and he was then muted. Have you been praying so long for something but disappointmment, discouragement or hopelessness creeped in. I have been there and in some areas I am asking God for guidance, grace and help to continue to hold the Almighty God by His word. When we have a relationship and understanding of who God is to us we can better understand what He can do for us!

The Lord came to Abram in a vision, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward."- Genesis 15:1 God reveal Himself to Abram this relationship was not one that was one-sided but Abram had an encounter with God and asked questions, he told God his concerns then God gave him a promise and instructions. Abram's situation can be an example for many of us that are in a season of waiting; for marriage, for children, for dreams and plans to come into fuition. During Abram's wait there were some interesting things that happened along the way like how they lied about Sarai being his sister, then Abram slept with Hagar the maidservant. Time and time again I have tried to manipulate my outcome; I have not seen things work out in the time that I have expected so I step in trying and failing but still trying again! This always leads to frustration, even in the life of Sarai and Abram. Sarai gave her maidservant for her husband Abram to have a child with...she got to the point of desperation. "God I can no longer wait on you" but they must have forgotten what God said. Years had already gone by and the scripture never revealed another word about this situation, this wait until Abram was in his ninties. He had already have Ishmeal. Maybe even to the point that Abram probably was not even praying to God for a son anymore (disappointed and discouraged).

Now the Lord said to Joshua: "Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; take all the people of war with you, and arise, go up to Ai...."- Joshua 8:1 NKJV The Lord knows that we tend to get tired, weary, frustrated and can get discouraged with our journey. He gives us these words of encouragement to keep us going, to keep our faith tanks full. Joshua was already discouraged, his tank was low he had already lost men in battle. The wait is hard but remaining in obedience can be even harder if we do not know His word, a special word from the Lord for our journey.

Do not get weary in well doing but in dew season we shall receive our blessing if we do not give up. - Galatians 6:9

Today I came to tell you 'do not be afraid', do not get weary, frustrated, tired, confused or give up; soon enough once you continue to live according to God's word, obey His instructions you will be able to see the blessings that God has for your life.

No, the wait is not easy but it is worth it in the end. Remember God is not asking for you to be perfect, nor is He asking that you take it in your hands; that will lead to frustration and disappointment. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you the grace to get through your season of wait with the right attitude and to grow in the areas that are not quite ready for the blessing God has. Before I end I would like to reflect back to the story of Abram, before Abram had the promised son he had to prove himself faithful, God revealed Himself to Abram as El-Shaddai- God Almighty as He said to him in subsequent verses and also made a convenant, a promise with Abram during this time changing both Sarai and Abram's destiny's by also changing their names. We see that the promises and instructions for different character's varied based on what God wanted to do in the life or through the lives of His children. Abraham's obedience changed our lineage and destiny. God can be using you to change the destiny and lineage of your family, that generation. In the end obedience would be worth it!

#obedience #donotbeafraid #obey #generationscanbechanged