Do Not Fear

Our Theme for June

Isaiah 12:2 – “Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid.  The Lord, the Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.”

I have to admit that I am often afraid.  I am afraid of war, bombs, terrorists, violence, guns, and evil-doers.  I am afraid of what we are doing to our Earth – causing grave damage by our careless use of her resources, leading to dangerous climate change consequences.

I can feel overwhelmed when my consumption of news and social media leads to sensory overload!

That's when I must imagine a great big STOP sign.  “STOP right there,” I must say to myself!

STOP with the noise of the world and go into a quiet place (even if that place is only inside my own mind).

How can I feel my Lord’s strength if I’m blocking Him out with the terrible cacophony of the negative noise of bad news and negative “what ifs”.

• God wants to be my salvation – but I must let him! 
• God wants to be my strength, but he can’t pick up my burdens if I refuse to lay them down!
• God wants to fill me with a song of joy and love, but I can’t hear his song in my heart while I’m tuned to the wrong station.
• God can’t save me if I won’t let him!

My grandpa used to play an old, old song called Turn Your Radio On, written by Albert E. Brumley, Sr.  The chorus went like this…

Turn your radio on

Turn your radio on and listen to the music

Turn your radio on and glory share

Turn the lights down low

Turn the lights down low and listen to the masters’ radio

Get in touch with God

Get in touch with God, turn your radio on.

 

Beautiful advice!  Beautiful encouragement!

So, when we are afraid, we need to find a quiet place to turn off the noise and to turn to God.  We need space and time listening for God, trusting God, letting God take the load off our minds, letting God become our strength.

When we sit in His presence, we can hear peace and feel safe in the knowledge of His everlasting LOVE and Salvation. 

I hope you will join me and turn your radio on today! 

 

Let’s pray…

Help me, dear Lord!  Draw me close.  Give me the push I need to let go and let you become my Salvation!  Amen!

This devotional was written and read by Bernice Howard.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.