Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.
—Deuteronomy 31:8
“If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a hundred times!” Once, when my mother said that, I smart-mouthed, “If I’ve heard you say that once, I’ve heard you say it a hundred times.” Believe me, I never said that again—soap tastes bad.
Moms do a lot of repeating because kids aren’t good at listening.
God does a lot of repeating—for the same reason.
Jesus’ disciples were in a sea-storm and were terrified. Jesus confronted them with an accusation and a question: “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” (Mt 8:26).
A nail-biting Christian is a pitiful sight to the Lord, for fear displays an anemic faith.
“Fear not!”—or its equivalent—is the most-repeated command in the Bible. There must be a reason for that.
Are you listening?
Which characterizes you—fear or faith?