““But do not fear, O My servant Jacob, And do not be dismayed, O Israel! For behold, I will save you from afar, And your offspring from the land of their captivity; Jacob shall return, have rest and be at ease; No one shall make him afraid.”
Jeremiah 46:27 NKJV
Fear blurs the lines between perception and reality. I know my physical responses to fear – my heart races, my stomach gets upset, my breathing becomes shallow.
A week ago I had a situation that produced enormous fear in me. I lost sleep. I withdrew. I got sick. But I realized today that it was more that just fear that consumed me – I had become dismayed.
The Hebrew word in the passage today for dismayed is châthath: to break down, either (literally) by violence, or (figuratively) by confusion and fear:—to beat down, to discourage, (cause to) go down.
When I faced this situation last week, I lost all perspective. I tried to talk my way out of it – to rationalize the situation – but that didn’t work. I tried to just escape it by ignoring it but that didn’t work either. I finally had to face it and in doing so, the confusion cleared. Once I stood – the perspective shifted.
I don’t know the magical answer to eradicate fear but today I recognized it was the sense of being dismayed that paralyzed me so completely. When we are dismayed, we lose courage. We become so upset to the point that things are hopeless and we see no resolution. That’s what paralyzed me last week – not the fear, the sense of being dismayed. A very quick search mentions 5 verses where fear and dismay go hand in hand: Isaiah 41:10, Joshua 1:9, 8:1, and 10:25, and Deuteronomy 31:8. All have the same theme or today’s reading: do not fear and do not be dismayed. In other words, do not let fear have such a hold that it sucks the life out of you, confusing and bringing you low.
The opposite of dismay is heartened or “buoyed”. I found that place last week when the truth was finally revealed, but I am convicted today about how low I let myself be pressed down simply because I could not – did not – focus my affections on Him, rather, I focused on the thing I feared and the possible outcomes.
Today I’m grateful for mercy and grace that covers my sin
I’m grateful for His kindness that stayed with me in the darkness. And I’m grateful for His presence that never left – nor ever will – leave me.
Father – thank You for Your Word and Your mercy. Forgive where I am weak and have failed Thee. Thank You for forgiving me. You are good and You keep doing good. Your leadership in my life is perfect and You can be trusted. Amen.
Daily Reading: Jeremiah 46-48
August 23, 2022