Dominion Bible StudyChikamu

"The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" Psalm 27:1

To imagine a life without strife, trials, and pain is impossible. We read about two different sides of the same story in the Bible: struggle and victory. The Christian life does not promise a life without struggle. In fact, we are told we will indeed suffer. We are told we are in a spiritual war against our flesh. We are told the devil aims to kill, steal, and destroy us.

One of the interesting things about the Christian life is that we are called to fight in a battle that has already been won. One may think this would cause us to be over-confident. While this is a logical conclusion, on the contrary, I find many of us walk in an abundance of under-confidence. Sometimes it seems we believe in the power of God for future salvation, but not in the power of God in our present circumstances. For instance, we know God will put an end to our anxious thoughts after we die, but we don’t believe nor do we often ask for Him to intervene when we have anxious thoughts here on earth.

The Psalmist begins in chapter 27 with the proclamation, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” This is pertinent to the fear that some Christians have of losing their jobs for speaking about Christ in our current times. Or perhaps because of a refusal to speak some new secular dogma. Fear of being canceled, or of having your social media account suspended, or even of the government sticking its nose where it doesn’t belong—namely into the business of how parents raise their kids. Are those scary scenarios? Are they legitimate concerns? Absolutely! But my God is my salvation, not only in the future, but He is my salvation here and now. So whom shall I fear?

In this same chapter, there is a famous passage that says, “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire[c] in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4). This sums up the dichotomy of struggle and victory. We have legitimate weights and legitimate dangers in this world, but we will not fear because we are safe in the shadow of the Almighty. We set our eyes upon Christ. We set our minds on His goodness, and we live in His presence. This doesn’t guarantee us a life of ease. We will still suffer while on this earth, but the Holy Spirit will give us the power to suffer well.