It is a present possibility to learn of God in a special way while living in a realm of chaos, challenge, and sin. We cannot so learn to know our God in heaven, for those elements which afflict the flesh here are not to be found there.
We shy away from earth’s problems. It is natural to do so. We do not seek pain or loneliness or poverty or sorrow. But they come anyway. Across each path such shadows fall. But it is in those very circumstances which we so much dread that we can get to know our heavenly Father in the most precious way possible–if we will only stop and listen to His voice.
He says: Fear not! He will never say that in heaven, for there, there is nothing to fear. This beautiful statement falls only on the ear of one whose passage is where danger lurks. We know that our arch enemy is stalking nearby. We do not know what snare awaits our next step. We hear the rising volume of human madness gushing from a world that is insane with sin. But our Father says, “Fear not.”
Our trembling hearts ask: Why should I have no fear? Listen as He responds: “It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers” (Isa. 40:22). So often it is those inhabitants that bring us fear. But to Him they are merely as grasshoppers. Fear not!
Our fears often come from forces we cannot control. But listen as our Father says: “Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things” (Isa. 40:26). So I must fear not; for He made them and the greatness of His might holds them still.
But I am so weak. My vision clouds when it needs to be clear. My tongue is dumb when it ought to shout. My feet grow weary as soon as the path starts uphill. “He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increaseth strength” (Isa. 40:29).
Oh, but the trembling heart falters on the edge of fear. Yet, again, our Father’s voice speaks in the darkness: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness” (Isa. 41:10).
Where is He when I need Him? He could not be closer–right at my side. Who is He? He is “thy God.” What does He do in my moment of need? He strengthens and helps and upholds His child.
Still our trembling heart asks, Are these mere words? Have I a present, personal, heavenly Father who so tends His own? The answer comes through experience! We must obey the command, “Fear not.” The troubled hand must grip His mighty hand. We must believe, and proceed, in His promise: “When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned.” He is not watching from a distance; He is there, with His own. He never abandons, never withdraws, never forsakes.
Nowhere else, except in this troubled lifetime, can we know His presence with us in the floodtide. Nowhere else will one cross a rushing river by His strength alone! Nowhere else shall fire yield its consuming nature and burn us not, except here, while our Father is with us in the trial. In heaven there is neither rising flood nor rushing river nor burning fire. Only here, amidst the elements that make mere men quake with horror, can we learn the reality and the peace of hearing our heavenly Father say: Fear not.
It is such learning of Him in life’s darkest hour that builds the child-Father relationship into an eternal and personal treasure. We hear Him call us by name. “Thou art Mine! For I am the Lord thy God…thy Saviour!” Then, as the night darkens, as the valley deepens, as the heart and body grow weary, as the chill world crouches to do us in, we learn to grip His hand a little tighter; we put our foot right in the print He has made as He steps ahead, and we triumphantly pass onward, leaning on the everlasting arms!
No, even in heaven I shall never be able to learn of Him in this delightful manner. Here, the trials draw Him nearer. Here, our personal needs are met by His sustaining grace. Here, where the darkness still abides, we hear Him say in the dead of night: “Fear not, for I am with thee.”