Knitting through the Storm

I love the story of this one woman who was on a plane en route from Los Angeles to Boston. They hit some really bad weather for almost the entire trip. Everybody on board was panicking because the plane was getting tossed around. Some people were starting to legitimately worry about whether they were actually going to reach Boston. Everyone was panicking except one senior citizen who knitted a sweater the entire transcontinental flight.

Finally, when the plane hit some clear air, someone went over to this old woman who had been knitting the whole time and said, "Why aren't you bothered? Why don't you seem to be fearful while all of us are worried about this plane and hoping we're going to make it to safety?"

She looked at him and said, "Young man, I am on my way to visit my son in Boston, but I used to have another son who was a Christian and died not too long ago. So before this day is done, one thing I know: I will see one of them, and it doesn't much matter which one of them I visit."

I've heard for many years that the Bible says, "Fear not" at least 365 times. That means it tells each one of us, “You don't have to fret about life” one time for every day of the year. I mean how awesome is that? In my many years of preaching, I have said this, but I hadn’t checked it out. Finally, I decided to investigate it for myself. Well, here's the real story. The Bible doesn't say “Fear not” 365 times. In fact, it's not even close. Based on the version that you may have, “Fear not” may be in the Bible less than a hundred times.

Here's the thing, though. It doesn't really matter.

If God said "Fear not" even just one time, then I don't need it 365 times. With God, once said is enough said. Our God is gracious, though, and he says it a few more times for us, and that should be an encouragement to every single one of us. We can trust him when he says, “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” (Isaiah 41:10, ESV).

^{After pastoring an inner-city congregation in Detroit for thirty years, Pastor Tim served at Brooklyn Tabernacle in NYC for five years and pastored in Lafayette, Louisiana, for five years. He became Senior Pastor of Times Square Church in May of 2020.}