Glorious Freedom from Fear

The conditions in the world today are causing fear to mount. We are witnessing the words of Jesus come to pass: “On the earth distress of nations, with perplexity … men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken” (Luke 21:25-26). Christ is warning us, “Without hope in me, multitudes of people are literally going to die of fright.”

For Jesus’ followers, however, those who trust in God’s promises to preserve his children, there is glorious freedom from all fear. In fact, all who come under the lordship of Christ never need fear again if they will lay hold of the following secret: True freedom from fear consists of totally resigning one’s life into the hands of the Lord.

Resigning ourselves into God’s care is an act of faith. It means putting ourselves completely under his power, wisdom and mercy, led and preserved according to his will alone. If we do this, the God of the universe promises to be totally responsible for us — to feed, clothe and shelter us, and to guard our hearts from all evil.

Jesus provided the ultimate example of this kind of holy resignation when he went to the cross. Just before he gave up his spirit, he cried aloud, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit” (Luke 23:46). Christ placed the keeping of both his life and his eternal future into the custody of the Father. And, in so doing, he placed the souls of every one of his sheep into the Father’s hands. 

You may wonder, “But didn’t Jesus say he had the power both to lay down his life and to take it up again?” (see John 10:18). Since he had the power to “take up his life again,” why did he resign it into God’s hands to be preserved? The answer is simple: Jesus did this to set an example of trust for all his sheep to follow.