Today we are living in fearful times such as few of us have ever known. The truth is, only a personal word from the Lord can lead us through such times with the enduring hope we need. And God has always been faithful to provide a word to his people throughout history.
In the Old Testament we read this phrase again and again: “The word of the Lord came …” Scripture says of Abraham: “After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram” (Genesis 15:1). We read of Joshua: “According unto the word of the Lord which He [gave] Joshua” (Joshua 8:27). And so it was with David and the prophets also.
You cannot fight the battle of faith without hearing the assuring voice of the Lord to you. When David and his warriors returned from battle and found their village raided and their families kidnapped, they cried out in agony, “How could this happen? Why would God allow it?” Then they “lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep” (1 Samuel 30:4).
This scene from David’s life shows us there is most certainly a time to weep when calamity strikes. But then he encouraged himself. “David encouraged himself in the Lord” (30:6). Instead of giving in to fear, David decided to fight his fears. I believe he did this by remembering all of God’s past deliverances in his life. Every victory had been brought about because of his unwavering faith.
“Say to those who are fearful-hearted, ‘Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; He will come and save you’” (Isaiah 35:4).
While the world is under vengeance — when all things seem to be spinning completely out of control — God is in the process of saving us. He is using even the chaos of world events to bring about his salvation. He is faithful to save and to keep his people, through every calamity.
As for God’s people, we have the abiding Holy Spirit to speak a word from heaven to us. I believe the challenge for every believer today is to stay in the Scriptures until the Holy Spirit makes God’s promises seem to jump off the pages to them personally. We can know when that happens because we will hear the still, small voice of the Spirit whispering: “This promise is yours. It is God’s Word given just to you, to see you through these hard times.”