Your Daily Devotional for October 30, 2006

 

October 30, 2006

 

 

What’s Next?

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

“And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.”

 

 

Luke 1:28-30

 

 

It seems as if there is a lot going wrong in the world today. Every time you turn on the news, it appears that all the news is bad news! There seems to be no end to the constant tragedies in our world, and it can be difficult to fight the fear of what the future may hold for us as Christians. How can we dispel this fear of what will happen next?

 

We see in this passage the story of when Gabriel told Mary that she was to be the mother of Jesus. When the angel told her this news, Mary was afraid as we see in verse 29, “And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying.”  I’m sure if we were in her position, we would be troubled as well. She was living a normal life, preparing for a wedding, faithfully serving God, and now an angel tells her that she is pregnant with baby Jesus! What an exciting yet overwhelming thought!

 

Yet, the angel comforted her by saying, “Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.” He let her know that God was pleased with her, and there was nothing to fear. Christian, when you are living for the Lord and He is pleased with what you are doing, there is no need to fear. Christ will protect us as we remain faithful to Him.

As we remain faithful to Him, He keeps His hand of mercy upon our lives. With all the wickedness in the world today, we need God’s protection at all times! We can’t spare a moment of weakness without Christ! That is why we must seek Him daily to confess our sins and remain in sweet fellowship with the Lord.

Black Bart was a professional thief whose very name struck fear as he terrorized the Wells Fargo stage line. From San Francisco to New York, his name became synonymous with the danger of the frontier. Between 1875 and 1883, he robbed twenty-nine different stagecoach crews. Amazingly, Bart did it all without firing a shot. Because a hood hid his face, no victim ever saw it. He never took a hostage and was never trailed by a sheriff. Black Bart used fear to paralyze his victims. His sinister presence was enough to overwhelm the toughest stagecoach guard.

What do you fear? Are you afraid of what could happen next? There is no need to fear when God is on your side! He is the Creator of the world and He offers His protection in time of trouble! Look to Him today, and let Him take away your fear!

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