“The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?” (Psalm 27:1, NIV)
At the wake for my 92-year old paternal grandmother, her pastor noted that she would often quote today’s psalm; pause for effect; then answer confidently: “Nobody!”
If we live in the light of the Lord, we need not fear those who lurk in the darkness. Though the agents of evil may snare us, the length of our captivity is limited, and our liberation is assured.
Whom shall we fear? “Nobody!” – Luther
“Jesus replied, ‘What is impossible with man is possible with God.'” (Luke 18: 27, NIV)
Make no mistake about it, there are impossibilities in this life. To act or to say otherwise is to risk doing ourselves, and those who get their cues from us, a great deal of harm. Each day presents its own challenges, and we do well to weigh whether we have the time, the strength, the wisdom, the funds, or the alliances and allegiances to prevail. Doing so brings us to the point where we know, without a doubt, that if we are to succeed in the task before us, it must be “with God.”
Jesus reminds us today (as He did the disciples 2,000 years ago) that where we will utterly fail by ourselves; with God, we can achieve, succeed, and prevail.
The child of God is never — never — in the realm of impossibility when mindful of his/her heavenly Father. – Luther
“‘Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine [Goliath] will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.’ Saul said to David, ‘Go, and the Lord be with you.'” (1 Samuel 17:36-37, NIV)
Today’s scripture encourages us to use our memory of God’s faithfulness to provoke us to trust and faith in our heavenly Father — at all times, and in every circumstance.
David’s faith, confidence, and courage at the great, public, moment of his confrontation with Goliath had as its foundation the lesser, private, moments in his life when God had been equally faithful. God’s power and faithfulness are no less when we’re facing a giant before an audience of thousands, than it is when we were confronting ordinary foes in the wilderness.
When facing a giant (whatever or whomever it might be), recall to mind our heavenly Father’s faithfulness and power in the less public periods of your life. It will give you the faith, the confidence, and the courage you need! – Luther
Daily Encouragement 