Isaiah 41:10, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
The remedy for fear and dismay is found in the person of God: his presence and character. As seminary graduation and moving out of state approached, my family and I held the Lord to his word according to Isaiah 41:10. As anyone enters into a future that is unsure and scary, the medicine for the soul is to rest in the good God of Scripture.
Fear and anxiety are far too familiar to us in this current age. A sudden loss of courage due to alarm, prayerful disappointment, or overwhelming anxiety can easily cripple the heart. Weakness through little faith and much doubt settles in. Helplessness dominates. The waters of life swell over you as you drown deeper and deeper in them. The temporary safety net of life as it was before was thought of as permanent. God is so gracious that when his gifts are taken away in the slightest, we cry “foul!”
The good Lord says in Isaiah 41:10, “Fear not for I am with you [and] be not dismayed because I am your God.” So here we have the medicine for the soul: God’s presence and his character.
Fear not, because I am with you. (Presence)
Be not dismayed, because I am your God. (Character)
The unchangeable and steadfast God of all creation—the one true living God who is true to His Word, the promise maker because he’s a promise keeper, the covenant making God because he is faithfulness himself—is with us. God’s presence alone is of little comfort if he is not able and loving. God’s ability and love is equally of little value if he is distant and impersonal. But the beautiful truth of Isaiah 41:10 is the combination of both perfectly. God is good and he is with us. The ever-present, personal God who is never far off but easily accessible, who holds the world in his hands, who is love himself, who is holy, holy, holy, who is all wise, and righteous, and just, full of mercy and grace, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and quick to intervene for his children says, “It is me who is with you. It is me who will strengthen you. It is me who will help you. It is me who will uphold with my righteous right hand.”
And is that not what Jesus does? Jesus is not only right now sitting at the right hand of the Father but he is himself the righteous right hand of God. Beloved, Jesus came into this world to save sinners and he ascended into heaven to always interceded for us. It is this Jesus, who never leaves us or forsakes us. We are not left alone as sheep without a shepherd. This is the God who goes before us and is with us. Scripture bids us to rest in God’s presence and character. Will your faith heed the call? Rest in him; firm in your faith.
It was Charles H. Spurgeon who once said, “I have learned to kiss the waves the that throw me up against the Rock of Ages.” Might the good Lord be throwing you up against the Rock of Ages?
Matt Harris, M.Div. ’26