Isaiah 51

I’ve never been one to beat around the bush much. Unless I’m indulging in “girl talk,” I like to get down to business, straight to the point. I think that’s why I was so drawn to the plain talk in this chapter: “I’m the One comforting you. What are you afraid of—or who? Some man or woman who’ll soon be dead? Some poor wretch destined for dust? You’ve forgotten me, God, who made you, who unfurled the skies, who founded the earth. And here you are, quaking like an aspen before the tantrums of tyrants who think they can kick down the world. But what will come of the tantrums?” (vs 12-13)

Fewer things are more temporary than tantrums—that is, unless you’re in a crowded Walmart at 5:00p.m. on a Friday afternoon with 20 people waiting behind you in the checkout line, and your toddler has spied something she wants that you have absolutely no intention of buying for her. Then, the tantrum will probably last forever. Otherwise…

What are you so afraid of?

Really, is there any need to expound on these verses? God says, “If you actually take time to remember who I am, you’ll suddenly see that all those things you’re afraid of amount to nothing more than temporary tantrums by temporary people. You’re temporary, too, so make sure you take hold of the One thing that’s permanent.”

All of the great villains of history have come to the same end. Their tantrums have ended, their evil deeds are done, their voices are silent… and in their place, new villains have arisen to shout: There’s no shortage of them these days! But the God who unfurled the skies and laid the foundation of the earth has never “come” and “gone.” He is. And long after today’s villains have turned to dust, He will still be. So what are you afraid of?

Why should we stand in fear of one who is as frail as we are? To be excessively afraid of any person or any thing is simply a form of idolatry. While we quake in our boots, we are carving an idol out of a man just as surely as the Israelites fashioned gods from wood and stone.

Let’s treat men as men and God as God. Nothing, absolutely nothing, can remove us from the solid and steady hand of God. Whether we live today or whether we die today, we are irrevocably in His hands. It doesn’t matter what is said to us, what is done to us, or what is taken from us—nothing can ultimately touch us when we rest in the safest place in the universe, God’s hands.

So if you’re in His hands, what are you afraid of?