God's Comfort Lasts Forever--Not Fear of Man

I have a confession to make.  I have needed the comfort of some sort of blanket in order to sleep for my entire life.  When I was young it was a blanket my great aunt gave me at birth.  When I was 17 I threw it away thinking I was too old.  I promptly replaced it with an afghan my mother made.  When that wore out, I replaced it with another afghan given as a wedding present.  It's been a life-long comfort for me.

In Isaiah chapter 51, God is talking about real life-long comfort.  He goes over with the Jews the fact that His salvation lasts for all eternity--even as the earth and heavens are consumed and all inhabitants die.  His comfort and salvation are coming from the same eternal source that created the world and put it in motion.  This is God Himself, who will also put in motion a new heaven and earth.

In the midst of this chapter, God says this:

 Isa 51:12 I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass;
 Isa 51:13 And forgettest the LORD thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?

Going back to the theme of this week--Fearing God is the antidote to fearing man.  When we fear what people think of us or what they may do to us, we are forgetting God and his great love for us!
We are putting our trust in our ability to please people in order to gain peace instead of setting our hearts firmly on the fact that God loves us.

I've seen demonstrations where a pencil can obstruct the sun if held in the right way.  Fear of man is like that; a very small thing that looms larger in our mind than the very powerful and great loving God we serve.  We can't be afraid of man and at the same time be fully immersed in God's love for us.

I will probably keep my blanket.  But as this freedom from fear journey continues, I want to draw deep into the comfort of the Lord and keep Him in focus, not the thoughts and opinions of people.

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