I feel it needs said

There is a lot of fear floating out there today.  One just needs to scroll through a Facebook feed to find the fear that the Ebola outbreak is bringing to many.

 I don't want to downplay the seriousness of the situation, because it is a big, deadly deal.

But I also feel it is very easy to get caught up in it and let the fear reign in our hearts.

At least I know it can do it to me.

So, if not for anyone else, but for my own assurance, I turn to the Promise.

The Promise is not that we will never have pain, or even that we would be safe from deadly diseases.

The Promise is that if we call on the Name of One Who Saves, our souls will be delivered.  It may be a painful, awful journey, but if we claim Jesus as our Saviour, we have no need to fear what will happen in the end.

Psalm 91 sums it all up, so I will leave it at that:

 

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
    my God, in whom I trust.”

Surely he will save you
    from the fowler’s snare
    and from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with his feathers,
    and under his wings you will find refuge;
    his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

You will not fear the terror of night,
    nor the arrow that flies by day,

nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
    nor the plague that destroys at midday.

A thousand may fall at your side,
    ten thousand at your right hand,
    but it will not come near you.

You will only observe with your eyes
    and see the punishment of the wicked.

If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
    and you make the Most High your dwelling,

no harm will overtake you,
    no disaster will come near your tent.

For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways;

they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
    you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;

    I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

He will call on me, and I will answer him;
    I will be with him in trouble,
    I will deliver him and honor him.

With long life I will satisfy him
    and show him my salvation.”