“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God” (Isa 41:10).
Mark Guy Pearse tells a story he heard from two young men while visiting South Africa. They had three days’ holiday and decided to ride up-country. Entering a forest, they were startled by a terrible roar. “A lion,” said one. “It isn’t safe to go on,” said the other. But they didn’t want their holiday spoiled, so they pushed on a little. Then came another roar, and again they stopped. But along the path came an old man who greeted them with a bright “Good day,” and then disappeared in front of them among the trees. They had called to him about the lion, but he was stone deaf.
The horsemen said to each other, “We have to stop him!” But, as they turned the next corner, they saw a waterfall, with a group of bull-frogs sitting along the edge of the pool, whose collective noise, magnified by the stone face, had threatened their holiday. Whether lions or bull-frogs are ahead, you can go with God undismayed.