Without Fear in the Father’s Perfect Will
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. — Psalms 23:4
The disciples told him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and are you going there again?" — John 11:8
Author
Dr. Roberto Miranda
Summary: Jesus moves toward danger without fear because he lives in complete submission to the Father’s will and knows that God reigns even over threats, suffering, and death. The disciples, seeing things only from a human perspective, become distressed and want to avoid the difficult path. We too may be afraid when we do not understand how dark circumstances form part of God’s sovereign purposes. Walking in the light means living in holiness, integrity, obedience, and conformity to his will. When our lives remain within that framework, we can rest assured: human schemes cannot thwart the divine plan. Let us always trust in God’s love, power, and control.
When the Lord finally decides to head toward where Martha and Mary live, John indirectly informs us that there are people there who want to harm Jesus because He represents a threat to their religious, institutional, and personal interests.
And when the Lord says, “Let us go there,” the disciples, who are always thinking on the human level, right?—many times we do not understand God’s plan, and we worry about minor things that are totally insignificant to God.
But because they do not understand Jesus’ power and God’s sovereignty and total control over their plans and over Jesus’ life, they become afraid. They say, “But Lord, suffering awaits us there; there are people there who want to harm You and perhaps even kill You, right?” The Lord, however, knows that He is in the perfect will of the Father; He is following a script that the Lord has established. He is perfectly synchronized with the Father’s will. He knows that all these threats, the death and suffering awaiting Him—all of it is part of a sovereign plan that God has for His life and His ministry.
And therefore, He is not afraid of the plans men have to harm Him. He knows that even these very men who want to harm Him are being used by God to advance the plan of salvation that God has for humanity, and that His Son must die, and that these men who want to harm Him are actually a sinister, dark instrument God is using to carry out His sovereign purposes.
So the Lord is not concerned about what these people are plotting, because He knows that this is part of God’s control over all the events of history. The disciples do not know this, and that is why they are afraid and do not want to go there, and they want, as it were, to advise the Lord to do the opposite. Many times, in order for God’s plans to be fulfilled, they involve sinister, dark elements of terrible suffering, sometimes even death, and here on Earth we see only the merely human, earthly side, and that is why we are afraid.
Oh, if only we could rise to the heights from which God sees history, our lives, what is to happen in the future, our relationships with other people, our children, and the future generations of our lives, how much our anxiety would diminish, knowing that God is sovereign, that He has a plan, and that He is moving things forward as He wishes.
And that is why I believe that in the Lord Jesus’ response, He says, “Does the day not have twelve hours?” meaning that there are approximately twelve hours of daylight in a day. He says, “If I walk in the light, what do I have to fear?” I have nothing to fear. What is the light in which the Son of God walks?
To me, that light is, first of all, His holiness, His integrity, His good works, His total submission to the Father’s will, His moving in accordance with God’s purposes for His life, His total obedience to the Lord, and the power of God. This is the light in which the Lord Jesus Christ walks, and therefore He says, “Hey, I am not afraid. If I am in the light, in My Father’s will, in His good purposes, under His control, why should I be afraid? If I walk in the light, I am safe from any evil plan men may have.”
How good it is, brothers and sisters, to walk in the will of God. May our lives always be clearly submitted to and remain within the framework of the divine will, because that makes us inviolable. Even if men want to harm us, we can feel safe; we can be at peace and confident. God is in control—what can man do to me? If God loves me, the One who loves me is more powerful than the one who is in the world. If God is with me and I walk in God’s light, His truth, and His righteousness, I have no need to fear the schemes of men.
May God grant that this faith, this confidence, be ours at all times. God is with me, and I will not fear what man may do to me. I walk in the light and in the will of God; therefore, I am invincible, and Satan has no power over my life. May God bless you, and may that assurance of God’s love and power with you, of God’s light illuminating your life, always be a part of your existence. Pastor Roberto Miranda bids you farewell. Until next time.