Fear Not!

Fear Not!

In peace I will lie down and sleep,

For You alone, O Lord, make me to dwell in safety.

Psalm 4:8

Have you ever been afraid to fall asleep?  I’m not referring to monsters in the closet or boogiemen under the bed.  Have you ever been afraid to close your eyes for fear that you would have a nightmare or worse, not wake up?   Somehow I developed a fear-based insomnia during my high school years, and even after I left home to go to college, this pattern of nighttime wakefulness traveled right with me.  Going to sleep during the day?  No problem!   Go to bed at night?  No, thanks!

One night when I was having a real struggle talking myself into bed, I reached for my Bible and turned to the beginning of the Psalms.  It didn’t take me long to get to chapter four, and this verse immediately caught my attention.  It was as though God placed it there specifically for me.  I cannot say it instantly cured my insomnia, but this is the promise I brought to the Lord when sleep was evasive, and He who is faithful kept His word.

Fear was an immediate consequence of sin.  When God came down for His daily visit with Adam and Eve in the cool of the evening, they hid from Him because they were afraid.  Fear has stalked the human race ever since.  Perhaps that is why, whenever God sent a messenger to earth, the conversation usually started with, “Fear not!”

These words echo down the ages to our ears as well.  Don’t be afraid.  Put yourself in My hands.  Be hidden under My wings, close to My heart.  You are safe within My care.

*

Be not dismayed whate’er betide, God will take care of you.

Beneath His wings of love abide, God will take care of you.

God will take care of you

Through every day, o’er all the way.

He will take care of you.  God will take care of you.

The United Methodist Hymnal, No. 130