God says, "Don't Be Afraid. I Will Help You."

I am the Lord your God,

who holds your right hand,

and I tell you, 'Don't be afraid. I will help you.' 

(Isaiah 43: 13) 

It has been a long-awaited week for me; something that I will cherish all my life and be thankful to God for. In the midst of a global pandemic that will be remembered over the next century, I was also one of those who had to personally endure the struggle, the distance, the isolation and the grief that this crisis has brought into all of our lives. 

I was always assured of the comfort and prayers that I was receiving from you all, especially after the demise of my beloved father and during my struggle to reach home to be with my mother in this time of grief. It has been a wait of three months, and as I shared with you last week at the end of the devotions, God opened the way for me to reach Sri Lanka; it all happened within a day. And here I am, quarantined from yesterday for the next fourteen days, and will be reaching home soon; a few hours away from home. Our God is an amazing God, He is a listening God and our Lord is an answering God!

As I got prepared for this sixteen-days travel, there were many fears deep down in my heart. I was able to trace the unknown and unclarified anxieties that had existed somewhere in the corners of my heart and I began to become overwhelmed by them. I was returning to my country, my home where my father was no more; he waved me goodbye at the airport when I left for the UK. I was returning to a Sri Lanka which has also been badly hit by the pandemic. I was risking myself with long hours of flying and was not sure about how things would turn out to be. I was returning to my land which will view me differently; it will not receive me with the Sri Lankan smile but with an anxious look, seeing me as a possible threat invading into an island surrounded and secured geographically by the Indian Ocean. There was so much in my heavy heart. 

With all these fears within me, I was packing for my travel and I came across a note that I had stuck on one of my folders which I tried to place into my travelling suitcase - it just said "Isaiah 41: 10." I rushed to my Bible and wanted to read it, and God said to me "So don’t worry, because I am with you. Don’t be afraid, because I am your God. I will make you strong and will help you; I will support you with my right hand that saves you." I did not stop there and I went on until verse 13, and that's when I realised what a compassionate, loving, caring and true God we serve. It was such a beautiful and comforting picture that came to my mind when I read "I am the Lord your God, who holds your right hand, and I tell you, 'Don't be afraid. I will help you'" (Isaiah 43: 13). What a reassuring God our Lord is. I literally felt God holding my right hand and not first leading me, but more importantly trying to make me understand. It was like the Lord, holding my right hand up, holding it against each other's chest and telling me "son, listen, I am with you in this... I will help you." 

Today, I would like to share these words of assurance with you. Wherever you may be right now and in whatever situation you may be in, and whatever fears, anxieties, insecurities and uncertainties you may be facing, I want to remind you to pause for a moment and listen to what God tells you right now, holding your hands. God says, (your name) ..................., I am the Lord your God, who holds your right hand, and I tell you, 'Don't be afraid. I will help you.' Amen! Our God is our helper. Our God is our wonderful counsellor, our guide, our provider, literally He is everything to us. And such an amazing and marvellous God promises us and assures us today that we do not need to be afraid for He will help us. Trust in the Lord and move forward. Face each morning with the strength that the Lord gives you. Seek Him first in the morning and the rest of the day will be great through Him. Walk your walk of faith, one day at a time. I am a witness and I can tell you, God will open ways for you. He will help you.

I pray that the blessings and power of God our Father, the love and grace of Christ Jesus the Son, and the presence and fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all as we continue in our walk of faith in the Lord, being held by His hand. 

May God bless you.

Yours in Christ,

"Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me" by CityAlight