Be Careful. Be Quiet. Do Not Fear

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm."
-Ephesians 6:10-13

In Isaiah 7, King Ahaz is presented with an issue. Rezin, the king of Syria, and Pekah, the king of Israel have decided to form an alliance against Judah, and to attack it.

This is about as bad as it could be. Not only is Syria attacking, but Israel has joined in against them now too!

As Christians, we will face Spiritual warfare. This is a reality that we must be aware of.

We have an enemy.

"Be sober minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."
- 1 Peter 5:8

We must be on guard! But we don't need to fear.

"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world."
-John 16:33

King Ahaz and the people needed to be reminded not to fear.

Isaiah 7:2 says that "the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind."

They were freaking out. This looked bad. This looked like it would be the end of life as they knew it. But God sent Isaiah.

I love what Isaiah said to King Ahaz.

"Be careful, be quiet, do not fear."
-Isaiah 7:4a

What great advice when we face warfare!

Be careful. Pay attention! The easiest way to get picked off is to not be paying attention.

1 Peter said that our enemy prowls like a lion. This makes me think of those Animal Planet shows, where the lion stalks it's prey. SO COOL!

If you watch, the gazelle are oblivious to the lion. They're just going about their business, eating, drinking, having a good time.

THEN BAM! The lion strikes. The gazelle didn't know what hit him.

To stay in the fight, you must know that you are in a fight.

Be quiet. Stop griping about the problem! Apparently, Ahaz was a talker. He knew they were doomed and he was making it known. Maybe he was just talking to himself. Telling himself how much trouble they were in. It could have gone something like this.

"Rezin and Pekah are coming... They will overthrow Jerusalem, and they'll get rid of the king. But, I'm the king.. That means they'll kill me. I'm going to die. They have bigger armies, they have more people. We're in trouble. We don't have a chance."

We can do the same thing with our problems, can't we? Does this sound familiar?

"But how will I pay my bills? What if it doesn't work? What if I'm wrong? I'm going to go to work tomorrow, and my boss will be mad about something and I'll get fired, then how will I live? My wife will be mad at me, then I'll be in trouble."

I didn't have to read your mind to know that you worry about things. We all do. But God's answer for this is simple.

Shut up!

Stop telling yourself the lies that satan poisons us with.

Do you remember in Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, when the steward of Gondor sees all of the armies around the city? He runs out of his palace telling everyone to flee, to run away. This is not the correct course of action! Gandalf hits him, and tells everyone to get ready to fight!

There has been enough talk about the problem. More words won't help. By all means, pray! But we can talk ourselves into more fear than is really there.

Do not fear. Was their enemy real? Yes. They were facing real opposition, just like we do. But just like them, we don't need to fear. Because we have God on our side.

Remember these things when fear tempts you, when attacks come.

Be careful. Be quiet. Do not fear.