Look Up
Finding a Refuge from Fear and Anxiety
Isaiah 45:7, 12
The Hierarchy of Fear
Basic human fears assault our psyches as a universal fact of life. According to an article in Psychology Today, five primary dreads attack our psychological health. Fear of death tops the list, followed by mutilation. No surprises there! Lack of control (or loss of autonomy) wins third place on the hierarchy. Fear of rejection places fourth, and humiliation lands fifth.
Some emotional offspring from the third-ranked distress: being controlled by circumstances beyond our control, might include worry, anxiety, and feeling overwhelmed. For many, these feelings nag us every day. A 2023 survey of Americans reveals further stress by indicating 40 percent report their anxiety has worsened over the last year.
Facing our Fears
Most of my first-world worries arise from ordinary culprits: travel safety, healing from illness, raising kids, and paying bills. I even fret about having too few hours in the day to complete my “to do” list. At times, heavier anxiety leans hard. It inflates fears about the welfare of a child, feeds doubt into a relationship, or whispers threats of death at the bedside of a loved one. Sometimes it blasts into my world like a hurricane.
In the broader perspective, many in our global world face frequent life-threatening fears: natural disasters, war, slavery, and famine. Their “loss of autonomy” can mean homelessness, starvation, human-trafficking, or annihilation. Top-tier fears stalk them daily.
In today’s super-charged environment of anxieties and fears, where do we find a harbor of peace? What emotional refuge can shield us when the guarantee of safety evaporates? God has an answer.
God’s Advice in Times of Fear
During a turbulent period in Old Testament history, the people of Israel suffer the ravages of war and oppression by Babylonian captors. In mercy, God sends a message of hope as they struggle under daily and intense fear. Through the prophet Isaiah, God announces he will rescue them from their circumstances, although in an unexpected way. He chooses a foreign ruler, the king of Persia, as his instrument to conquer the Babylonians and deliver the Israelites from their current captors. To reassure his people while he works on their behalf, God directs them to focus on the bigger perspective. He tells them, "I form light and create darkness, I make success and create disaster; I am the LORD, who does all these things.” (Isaiah 45:7 CSB) (Emphasis added.)
“As his people suffer in uncertainties, God offers comfort in a surprising way. He directs them to look up—way up—beyond their challenges and even the method of their deliverance.”
As his people suffer in uncertainties, God offers comfort in a surprising way. He directs them to look up—way up—beyond their challenges and even the method of their deliverance. He calms them with a declaration of sovereignty over the entire earth and every human endeavor. He reminds them he rules the kings of nations and forms the elements of nature. Their heavenly Father stands above all: “I made the earth, and created humans on it. It was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded everything in them.” (Isaiah 45:12). God’s message: The LORD is in control with a capital “C.”
Looking closer, God also tucks in a tender encouragement within the truth of his supreme control. In Isaiah 45:7, God uses the beautiful Hebrew word shalom in his pronouncement. Translated as “success,” from the original language, the term embraces the ideas of completeness, soundness, and peace. Although “darkness” and “disaster" do occur in the happenings of history, God affirms that through them all, including the actions of enemies, God works to move his people toward the shalom of peace and well-being.
Comfort in Times of Fear
For some, the statement of divine sovereignty may cause fear or anger instead of comfort, depending upon one’s relationship to the God of the Universe. Those who belong to God in covenant commitment, as did the Israelites, live under the promise of redemption and restoration. In a loving relationship with him, they possess a haven from anxiety within the movements of the world under God’s control. Regardless of the happenings around them, God vows to watch over his people. He cares for them and leads them to a place of goodness—even if the road passes through disaster on the way. Within his presence, he provides shelter from the storm and green pastures of restoration. While enduring any circumstance, they may rest securely within his purpose of building shalom.
Anxiety and fear will press upon us in this world. Times of light and darkness will intermix in the transitions between tough times and prosperous ones. As the theologian, Matthew Henry describes it: “…like the morning and evening twilights…there is a mixture of joys and sorrows in the same cup.” But for the people of God, fear does not conquer or pronounce the final word. A harbor of peace and shield of refuge arise within God’s promises.
Storms pass on out to sea, seasons of grief fade into celebrations of new life, helping one another lifts battered spirits, and cooperating hands build for the future. On our perilous journey to the final and lasting Shalom, comfort comes from knowing that although we taste both bitter and sweet, we drink from the cup of the Sovereignty of God.
How does the control of God over the events of your life bring you comfort? Where do you find grace in His cup?
Sources:
Albrecht, Phd., Karl. “The (Only) 5 Fears We All Share.“ Psychology Today, (March 22, 2012 ).
Gabriele, Rob. “What Americans Fear Most: 2023 Fear Ranking.” SafeHome.org. (July 9, 2024).
Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994).
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