“And the LORD said unto Joshua, ‘Fear not, neither be thou dismayed: take all the people of war with thee, and arise, go up to Ai; see, ” I have given into thy hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land.”- Joshua 8:1, KJV.
Some Bible Scholars reportedly claimed that there are about 365 or 366 verses in the Bible that contained the Command ” FEAR NOT”. In other words, the Command can be appropriated to each day of the 365 or 366 days that make up one year.
“DO NOT BE DISMAYED” is another phrase that can be used interchangeably with “FEAR NOT”.
Fear can be real or imaginary. It can be triggered by the things we read, or hear about of events happening around us or within our environment. Whether they are real or ordinary rumours, we are supposed to take heed and apply caution in the way we talk, the places we go, and the kind of people we associate with whether in real life or in the social media/ internet.
To navigate through the dangers around us or to completely avoid them, we need knowledge. In fact, GOD our Creator declared that ” My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge”- Hosea 4:6, KJV.
And so, on whatever venture, journey or undertaking we want to embark upon, we need to get relevant information to guide us appropriately in our planning in order to get the desired results.
The prevalent issues of security challenges in our Communities and in the nation are enough to make some of us apprehensive and not sure of what the days ahead may hold for us individually or corporately as a Nation.
In addition to the national crisis that the State Actors are still battling to checkmate and possibly stamp out, some of us may still be struggling with our personal or family challenges.
Notwithstanding in the midst of these, the Word of GOD is still coming to us -” FEAR NOT”. While we are expected to take proactive actions to avoid walking into dangers based on the actionable information/ intelligence available to us, we should learn to hand over to GOD the issues that our human capacity cannot handle.
As we learn to put our trust in GOD and lay bare before Him the issues that are causing us to fear or to be apprehensive either as individuals, families, Communities, or as a Nation, GOD can move in mysterious ways to end our challenges or captivity suddenly.
And whatever captivity we may find ourselves in ( whether self-imposed or satanically induced) as individuals or as a Nation, especially in the case of Nigeria, the Mercy of GOD will speak for us and we shall be set free to enter into our Year of Jubilee soonest in JESUS Name.
“Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion ( the afflicted individuals in this country and the Sovereign Entity called Nigeria): for the time to favour her ( us), yea the set time, is come ( is now).”- Psalm 102:13, KJV.
Olakunle is the General Secretary of National Prayer Movement
