Real Hope: Fear NotMfano

Joy Cancelling Fear

I can never read this verse without immediately hearing Mahalia Jackson sing it in my head. Her passionate powerful voice lifts these already powerful words to another level. And that’s exactly the point – when we magnify the Lord and declare His attributes of strength, love, care, or whatever, we put fear and its ilk in their place. He rules, not fear.

In 2019, I was diagnosed with a supposedly incurable blood cancer that required six months of chemotherapy. I, fortunately, and I mean it, had previously experienced a full range of challenges in life that had wonderfully prepared me to become ‘unashamedly God-dependent’. And so, I had learned and am learning that Christ is my light, my salvation, and my strength. 

Hence my diagnosis and treatment became a time to ‘delight in the Lord’ and recently my tests indicated ‘no evidence of lymphoma in my body’. I know that one day I will pass away, as we all must do, but what a joy to find and follow the Lord, here and now, irrespective of the real difficulties we face.

Can I encourage you to find and follow the Lord Jesus Christ and to not become distracted by fear or anything else?

written by JOHN SCOTT