Do Not Fear

Yes, you came when I called; you told me, “Do not fear.”

Lamentations 3:57 (NLT)

Can I let you in on a little secret? It’s going to blow your mind. Here it is: Pastors are no different than anyone else. There! Boom! Now let me clarify that statement a bit before I get in trouble. Pastors struggle with all of the same things others do: faith, anxiety, stress, worth, etc. We are human, after all. Unfortunately, we sometimes act like we’ve got it all together even when we are feeling strained in our faith, have anxiety, stress, or a million other issues going on. We’re really good at saying all the right things, even though we’re screaming on the inside. As a pastor, I know that we, as in all pastors, can do a better job of being real. So, here’s real.

While us pastors preach and teach that God will see us through every circumstance in life, and we truly believe that He does, our faith is sometimes tested when we are going through tough circumstances too. For example, a hugely stressful week of my entire adult life happened in March 2020. That week I produced a weekend youth conference. For these conferences, I would preach five unique sermons in just under 36 hours. In addition to that conference, my family and I were in the middle of purchasing a house, and the buyers were asking for some information in a very short time frame (48 hours) which was difficult to obtain. On top of that, I was getting ready to lead a mission trip to the Middle-East just a couple of weeks later, which still had several details to iron out. This, of course, was in addition to my normal workload as a pastor. So, my nights were fairly sleepless.

Of course, God is good, always. And, so, when I got up to do my devotional this morning, what verse does He give me to ponder? “Yes, you came when I called; you told me, “Do not fear.”” It’s a not-so-gentle reminder that God has got this. Yes, it’s gonna feel hectic and produce a few more dozen gray hairs. But, in the end, God will see it all through in His own special way and in His perfect timing. Plus, it is another chance to build a deeper faith in Him.

I don’t know what you may be going through right now, but God wants you to know He’s got it. “Do not fear.” Though it is normal to feel stressed, or anxious, God will overcome all of that. God does not fail in His promises. But, it’s going to be His way and in His timing. Though you don’t know how, you can trust that it will get done.