In Luke’s gospel, we are treated to several occasions where God sought to allay the fears of His people. The appearance of the angel to Zechariah with message of the imminent birth of John rattled him; so much so that the angel had to tell him to not be afraid. Mary was equally startled when she heard of God’s plan. She was told not to be afraid. Simon Peter and the ruler of the synagogue, whose daughter was dead, needed to be assured. Fear is a universal problem, and it is as old as the Garden. The moment Adam and Eve disobeyed God, fear set in. Unlike before the Fall, when the couple freely fellowshipped with God, they ran for cover out of fear the next time their Guest showed up. Ironically, even things that should readily call for rejoicing are often robbed of their shine through unnecessary fear.

“Fear is a universal problem, and it is as old as the Garden. If you must be free from all fears, you must firmly place your trust in the fact that Jesus saves. “

I once ran through a list of top 100 phobias. That means there are more phobias than the ones contained in the list. There is no comprehensive cure -either psychotherapy or application of drugs – that human beings can apply to fear problem. If you must be free from all fears, you must firmly place your trust in the fact that Jesus saves. On a number of occasions, the disciples of Jesus literally became paranoid. However, the Master would always drive their fears away by giving them assurance of His presence. Today, Jesus is still going around stopping people’s fears and commanding His peace instead. He can take care of what you most dread. We can have no better assurance of freedom from all fears than that which our text conveys. If it is God’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom, we have it on good authority that there is nothing else troubling us that He won’t take over.