We Do Not Fear Because of God's Perfect Love

"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." (Isaiah 41: 10)

When I struggled with fear, I would repeat this verse to myself, as if by saying this verse enough times, my fear would dissipate.

Yet the verse itself makes in plain -- we do not fear because Yahweh, the Creator and Covenant Maker, is our God.

Yet for me, the feelings did not go away, and I would get more panicked and upset the more that I tried to work the feelings away.

As with any verse in the Old Testament,  we must see these verses through the Finished Work of the Cross.

We know and believe that God is with us because He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, who was also named Immanuel --God with us -- when His arrival was heralded by the Angel Gabriel to Mary:

"Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." (Matthew 1: 23)

And because of Christ's Sacrifice at the Cross, we can know and believe that God loves us and is for us:

"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4: 10)

This love is perfected in us because it transforms us into sons of God:

"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4: 17)

The greater our understanding of who we are in Christ because of God's love for us (1 John 3: 1), the more we will witness fear banished from our lives:

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." (1 John 4: 18)

We are strengthened because of Christ in us:

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." (Philippians 4: 13)

He is our helper:

"So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me." (Hebrews 13: 6)

In Christ, God does more than uphold us in righteousness, we are made the righteousness of God in His Son (2 Corinthians 5: 21) and He has seated us in Christ at His right hand! (Ephesians 2: 6)

When we rest in who we are in Christ because of His love,we do not fear!