Gen 26:24, And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham; Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, For the sake of My servant Abraham." 
	In this passage, we have the Lord appearing to Isaac and giving him the encouragement that needs to be the heart of our every single day reality. Do not fear, for I am with you. As Christians, as believers in the salvation of God provided through the death and resurrection of His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, as members of His Body on this earth, our lives are to be characterized by this reality. We, each one of us, individually and personally, need to come into this truth that was so declared unto Isaac by God Almighty. Do not fear, for I am with you.
	This complete knowledge and trust in God will affect the every facet of our lives in a most living and vibrant testimony of just how fully and truly we know the Lord God, Creator of the Heavens and earth, Our Lord and Savior. Without it, we will be just like Isaac in the very beginning of our reading, lying about his wife, Rebekah, because of his fear of death at the hands of those living in Gerar. 
	This matter of fear is one of the most instilled aspects of our old nature. Self-preservation is a naturally inherited motivation that causes us to do so many things that we would otherwise never even consider. It is at the heart of why we steal, and cheat, and lie, and do anything in order to survive in this realm. It is at the core of all our thought processes concerning money, fame, acknowledgement, unforgiveness, selfishness, pride, animosity, anger, resentment, etc. Fear of getting hurt, or of losing something we value, or of dying, or of not being in control of our lives and destinies, or whatever else lurks in our minds, rules the manner in which we interact with all others on this earth, including God. 
	We will often argue and try to ignore what we know God wants us to do because we are afraid of all that that obedience might entail. We see this with Moses as he argued with God and offered many excuses as to why he was not the man that God should send to rescue the Israelites from their slavery. He finally told God that he was not able to go to Pharaoh because he was not well spoken or articulate. His fear of making a fool of himself in the presence of the earthly ruler of Egypt hindered his immediate willingness to go forth in the name of the Lord. 
Listen to God’s response to Moses in Ex 4:10-12. Then Moses said to the Lord, "Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since Thou hast spoken to Thy servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue." And the Lord said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes him dumb or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? "Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say." 
	What we will come to realize, when we learn to trust God and to set aside our fears and anxieties and doubts, is that, when we obey, God makes Himself our every source of what is needed to face the issues of our lives. When we look to God, when we see that He is not just a theological entity, but the Living and True Lord of all that He has created, then we will be empowered, by His Holy Spirit, to do all that He asks and desires in our lives. We will not fear anything of this realm, but will rest wholly upon Him to direct and to guide and to protect unto Himself.
	Now, lest there be any misunderstanding, we will face death daily. We will undergo a constant death to self in our obedience unto God. We will not have an easy life, in any measure, on this earth. But, we will have a life that is filled by the power and the wisdom and the surety of the fact that we are in the Lord’s hands and under His complete grace and mercy and security.   
	The Psalmist understood as we read throughout the Psalms. He directly addresses the matter of the fear of other men in Ps 27:1-3, The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread? When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell. Though a host encamp against me, My heart will not fear; Though war arise against me, In spite of this I shall be confident. 
	When we know the reality of this living relationship and certainty in the Lord God, Almighty, we are enabled to face any of our fears of what men might do to us. We know that we can be tormented and criticized and ostracized and even put to death, but there will be no fear of that nor of any treatment at the hand of men. We will be absolutely secure in the knowledge that we belong to the Lord and are under His divine providence. Whatever men may try to do to us will only serve to further God’s plan and purpose in our lives on this earth, as long as He deems fit to keep us here. 
We hold boldly and confidently onto the promise of Rom 8:28-31, And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 
In this fact, we find the every response to any doubt or fear or anguish or anxiety. There is nothing that man can do to us to thwart the mighty hand of God in operation unto His plan and purpose in our lives. We are under no constraint of human compunction to do anything which is in opposition to the will of God in our lives. Even if men kill our mortal bodies, we are eternally sheltered and secure in the loving embrace of Our Lord Jesus Christ. 
The Psalmist then goes forth to mention another of our utter earthly fears, that of natural catastrophe and disaster. Ps 46:1+2, God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea… There are very, very many people who are so greatly fearful of all the forces of nature that can be unleashed at any time. Many, in our area, constantly tremble at the thought of earthquakes or devastating wildfires that ravish our environment. In every geographic region, there are those natural elements of God’s creation which can so fiercely and ultimately ravage man’s safety and refuge in the works of his own hands. Try as we might, there is but one place of rest and security from all the fear of what could happen on this earth, and that place of ultimate and eternal refuge is in God, Alone. 
One of the greatest encouragers in knowing God in such a living and vital and personal manner in the Old Testament is the Prophet Isaiah. He writes over and over again, with every ounce of trust and assurance that fears of anything of this realm have no place before the Lord God Almighty. Isa 12:2, "Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For the Lord God is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation." … I will trust and not be afraid. 
Oh, that this would become the anthem of our mouths, our hearts, and our minds as we face every aspect of the course of this life. Whether we fear man, or nature, or money issues, or public speaking, or embarrassment, or illness, or the unknown, or are paralyzed by anything of our imaginations, every single aspect of great or small fear is victoriously overwhelmed in the certainty that I will trust and not be afraid.   
	Again hear the confirmation of Our Omnipotent, Omnipresent, and Omniscient God to us in Isa 41:10, 'Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.' 
Where in this passage, directly from the mouth of God, is there any wiggle room to allow ourselves the indulgence and the audacity to say that we are afraid of anything as we live in this earth in the light and the strength and the obedience of pleasing Him? We tend to get so caught up in all the tremors and anxieties and the rumors of what we can see and touch and feel and hear and taste and think that we lose sight of the One by Whom all has been brought into being.
	We fear because we tend to focus so much more on the elemental things with which we are surrounded. We give more credence and more attention to the physical aspects of our daily lives than to the spiritual truth of the security that is ours in Christ Jesus. This can very easily become an idolatrous act of serving panic and insecurity and uncertainty and doubts and suspicions rather than the Only Living and Supreme and All-sufficient Lord God of heaven and earth. 
How many of us have taken the time to really consider the fact that when we give into fear, we give it more honor and worship and consideration and prestige than we give to God Who tells us not to fear? It really is absolute audacity and idolatry to tell God that He is insufficient to deal with our mind’s imaginings and our human sense of self-preservation. We pit our miserable state of panic and assumptions against the very mind and Word of God and become entangled in the whole messy issue of who is the supreme Lord of our Lives. Is it me or is it God? 
We hear the futile and dreadful echoes of all those lost in their denial of the reality of the living God as delineated by the Apostle Paul in Rom 1:21-25. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 
Please do not think that fear will cause us to lose our salvation. That is not at all what is at hand in this relation. If we believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God sent to redeem us from our sins and trespasses, we are saved. 
Rather, fear can and will cause us to lose that close and personal relationship with God that is at the very heart of His desire with us. He can not force us to trust Him. He can and does give us every opportunity to do so, as we should, but it is still our choice. Trusting Him in everything is our own decision to make. If we choose rather to trust in our fears and our anxieties and our doubts, we will not have a very deep relationship with God. God has far more in view in a living rapport with us through His Only Begotten Son.  
	This is highlighted by the Writer to the Hebrews in Heb 2:14-18. Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. 
	In sending forth His Only Begotten Son, God has made provision for us to face any fear, any doubt, and all uncertainty. As Christ so dealt with and conquered all that we encounter on this earth, so can we take solace and strength in the fact that every fear has been forcefully and fully met in Him. He is able to be our source of power and the ability to face every challenge, every aspect of the unknown, every man, every force of nature, every detail that would otherwise strike dread and horror into our beings. 
	As the Apostle Paul so encouraged Timothy in 2 Tim 1:7, For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. By the wisdom and the guidance and the obedience to the Holy Spirit, we are fully enabled to go forth into this whole realm with no fear that would cause us to back down from the testimony that we are to be of the life and the love of God in Jesus Christ. 
	Think on this the very next time that we are on the verge of giving into the fears that seemingly so easily dissuade us from presenting unto God our hearts in absolute confidence in His Holy work. Ask Him to open up His source of strength and power to meet the every challenge of this age that would otherwise serve to pull our hearts and our minds from Him. Recognize that when we honor and obey Him, He will bring us into a relationship with Himself that will cast out all fear and doubt! Our complete trust in Him will serve to draw us deeper and deeper into the blessing of His continual fellowship in our lives, today and for all eternity. So be it.
	And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham; Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, For the sake of My servant Abraham." Amen.

This morning’s benediction is Heb 10:19-25. Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near. Amen.