But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭43‬:‭1‬-‭3a

Earlier this week as I was praying about what to write for this day, I highlighted and noted in my daily readings this passage as a possibility. I had no idea what would transpire over the weekend, but I knew that fear is prevalent and often crippling due to the scary times in which we live. The weekend’s happenings have further accentuated these fearful times. 

As believers, we are commanded to “fear not”. God very clearly tells us not to fear, but then He tells us why. “I have redeemed you” is what He says. Redeemed has multiple definitions in the Merriam Webster Dictionary: “to buy back; to free from captivity by payment of ransom; to extricate from or help to overcome something detrimental; to release from blame or debt; to free from the consequences of sin”. That redemption is available because of Jesus. When we are redeemed, we are His. We are freed from captivity that sin brings because He bought us. We are a precious treasure to Him. As His special treasure, we are not immune to scary times, but we are immune to the effects of them if we will obey the command to “fear not”. God said that He will be with us “through the waters”, “through the rivers”, “through the fire”. His presence will keep us from being overwhelmed or burned or consumed. 

Our nation is certainly in a very scary time. Our kids and our families are facing scary times. We are facing scary times. The scary times may be financial problems, wayward children, illnesses, crime too close to home, ungodly leaders, ungodly bosses, threats to our freedoms, and we could go on and on, but we won’t. Why? Because God says, “Fear not! I have redeemed you. You are mine I will be with you and nothing can overcome you because nothing can overcome Me. I am God, your God!” On the other side of these scary times is victory for the redeemed child of God. Don’t sweat the scary stuff! God’s got us!