368. Fear of the Unknown (Fear)

Fear of the unknown is one of the most common struggles we face. We worry about what tomorrow may bring, imagine difficult scenarios, and feel unsettled by circumstances we cannot control. In this episode of Moments of Worship, Pastor Keith McMinn looks at the comforting promise of Isaiah 41:10 and reminds us that the believer never walks into an uncertain future alone. God promises His presence, His strength, His help, and His sustaining hand. While the future may be unknown to us, it is never unknown to God, and His faithful promises give us reason to trust Him in every circumstance.

Transcript

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Hi friend, welcome to Moments of Worship on this Monday, March the 16th. I'm your host, Pastor Keith McMahon. This podcast seeks to be an encouragement to you in the worship of Almighty God each weekday. This podcast is sponsored by AbidingGod.org. Fear. We all face fear in our lives. Some fears are, well, familiar and even have names attached to them. Maybe it's a fear of heights or fear of public speaking or fear of like my wife, Joy, spiders, snakes, or enclosed spaces like claustrophobia. But there are other also deeper fears, fear of failure, rejection, suffering, loss, fear of being alone, fear of change, and fear of the unknown. For the next twelve days, we're going to look at different aspects of fear and seek to reconcile our hearts to the truth of God's word. Scripture repeatedly calls us to trust the Lord in the midst of our fears. One of the most common fears we face is the fear of the unknown. What's going to happen later tonight? What's going to happen tomorrow? What's going to happen next weekend when we have that big event? We don't know what tomorrow will bring. We wonder how will these circumstances unfold? And our minds can begin to imagine scenarios that actually never happen. Many of our fears are built not on reality, but on possibilities we create in our own thoughts. I've learned that. Into that uncertainty, God speaks a powerful promise in Isaiah forty one ten. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah forty one ten. Thanks be to God for his holy word. Notice that this verse is filled with the promises from God. First God says, Fear not, for I am with you. This is a great comfort in uncertainty that God is present with us. We never walk into an unknown future alone. The Lord goes with his people and he is sovereign over all. Second, he says, Be not dismayed, for I am your God. To be dismayed is to be overwhelmed or discouraged. And friend, the great I am is our God. We can and should hope and trust in Him, for He is mighty and trustworthy every single moment. Third, God promises strength. He says the one who never runs out of strength, who is always at full capacity, if you will, God says, I will strengthen you. When fear arises in our hearts, we can often feel weak and unable to face what lies ahead. Just yesterday, at the conclusion of the service, I did the pastoral announcements and I shared about the book release that's coming that I wrote for the church family and our Bide Conference that's coming May 2nd and our night of worship. I was really excited about this, but also nervous. I wrote down my thoughts in a manuscript. And now I've been in front of the church family and large uh people groups for a long time in my life, but I was nervous about this, sharing something so personal. What would they think? Would they be excited or would they be ready for me to move on with the announcement? All these kind of irrational thoughts came into my mind. I started to feel uneasy, nervous. I didn't want that attention on myself. I just wanted to glorify God. I was feeling all these uh thoughts in my head and mind and wrestling with that. And as I sought to walk out uh on the platform, I could feel just a little bit of tremor in my stomach. But you know what? God gave me strength. He made his name famous despite my weakness. God himself supplies the strength we lack. Fourth, he promises help as he helped me that day. The Lord does not stand at a distance and watch his people struggle. Nope. He actively comes to our aid. He is with us. He never leaves us or forsakes us. The Holy Spirit is with us, he is our comforter. God is near to the brokenhearted. Finally, he gives one more promise here in this text. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Now this image here is powerful. God is holding his people up with his own strong, righteous, his good hand. The same hand that rules the universe sustains the believer. When we walk in times of fearing the unknown, may we remember these truths. Philippians one six and I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians one six. God never abandons his work, he begins in his people. He will be faithful to complete it. God's character never changes. The scripture says, I am the Lord God and I change not. I believe that's at a Micah. His promises never fail. Hebrews thirteen five. I will never leave you or forsake you. I will never leave you or forsake you. God never abandons his people. The unknown future may feel frightening. It does. We will face times in our life that feels frightening because we just don't know. But it's never outside the care of God. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. His purposes can never be thwarted. Never. The believer walks forward not with certainty about circumstance, but with certainty about God. So when the fear of the unknown begins to rise in your heart, dear friend, may we remember who God is, that He is great and His greatness is unsearchable, and His promises will always be fulfilled. Remind yourself that the Lord is with you, strengthening you, helping you, and upholding. The future may be unknown to us, but Almighty God rules over our life, and He is good and He is sovereign, and He always knows what's best. Thank you for joining me on Moments of Worship on this first day of the series on Fear. I look forward to seeing you right back here on Tuesday, March the 17th. If you're a faithful listener to the podcast or maybe a new listener, I'd be grateful if you'd leave us a review. If you haven't done that before, just leave us a review on your favorite podcast app that you listen on, Spotify or Apple Music or all these other ones that the podcast is pushed to. Be grateful for that to let others know about how great God is. And those things like that help with the algorithms, as they say. So I'd be grateful for that. Well, friend, until tomorrow and forever, may we worship Jesus Christ. Thank you for listening.