"When you go out to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt." Deuteronomy 20:1
Our enemies always seem bigger than we can handle, don't they? That's why we worry, obsess, lose sleep, and have stomach ailments over our problems. But God says to us, in the same way he said it to the Israelites through Moses, that we are to put our faith in him, and not in our fear. Because that's what we're doing when we allow life's pressure cooker to control us - we are trusting in trouble and putting faith in fear, that they will rule the day and that we are hopeless. However, friends, God reminds us that he is the one who "brought you up out of Egypt." For the believer, the worst is truly over. Before Christ, each one of us who believes could have no better expectation than facing the just wrath of God against our sinfulness. So let's think about that deeply: we, who were once not only slaves (Galatians 4:7) but spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1) and enemies of God (Romans 5:10) have been gloriously called out of darkness into light and life and adopted into God's family (Galatians 4:5 & Ephesians 1:5). All this is possible because of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Certainly we may still face grinding heartache and smothering troubles, but God says "you shall not be afraid of them." The worst is truly over. The Lord God is with us.
