Nothing to Fear

But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. (Isaiah 42:1-4 ESV).

 

The great white shark (you know… Jaws) is an incredibly fast, powerful killing machine. Typically full grown at 16 feet in length and armed with razor sharp teeth. They have little to fear, except the Orca. Better known as killer whales they are nearly the same in size though the Orca being faster and more maneuverable wins this battle nearly every time.

 

For almost 15 years, Salvador Jorgensen from the Monterey Bay Aquarium has been studying great white sharks off the coast of California. He and his colleagues would lure the predators to their boats using bits of old carpet that they had cut in the shape of a seal. When the sharks approached, the team would shoot them with electronic tags that periodically emit ultrasonic signals. Underwater receivers, moored throughout Californian waters, detected these signals as the sharks swam by, allowing the team to track their whereabouts over time. In 2009, the team tagged 17 great whites, which spent months circling Southeast Farallon Island feasting on the local elephant seals. But this period of steady hunting ended abruptly on November 2 of that year, when two pods of orcas swam past the islands in the early afternoon. In the space of eight hours, all 17 great whites abruptly disappeared. They weren’t dead; their tags were eventually detected in distant waters. They had just fled from Farallon. And for at least a month, most of them didn’t return.

 

When I read this article it reminded me of our Scripture today. We live in a time when fear is common and often seems overwhelming. Anxiety is increasingly becoming the number one problem psychologically among every age group. Without debating the truth of the dangers we face today, let me say there is a solution. It involves two simple steps. First, be wise. Some have mistaken wisdom for denial. The crises are very real; however, so is our God. So, second, trust in the Lord.  If you will, we have the greatest “Orca” defending us! God has already proven His strength and might in the resurrection. Even death cannot overcome our God. Don’t ignore the threats of our day; but, know that the Lord is greater than any peril we may face!