The Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them. (Num. 14:9)
Expanded Passage: Numbers 14:10-11
My dog snores at night; it’s simultaneously adorable and annoying. The deep breathing is fine, but the “I’m-chasing-a-squirrel-in-my-dreams” snorting is hard to sleep through.
On nights when my thoughts turn against me, my dog’s snoring becomes one of my favorite sounds. My anxiety likes to whisper that the creaking noise I just heard downstairs must be an assassin.(Because there have been, of course, many assassinations in my small neighborhood . . .)
One loud snore from my Labrador, though, reminds me that if a stranger was in the house, my dog would be anything but asleep. He would have sensed the danger long before me. Just knowing that he is lying next to me is enough to make me feel safe.
The security I find in (wo)man’s best friend is nothing compared to the security I find in my savior. The difference is so great, it almost feels like sacrilege to compare the two. When fear creeps into my heart, all I need to do is to remind myself of God’s presence. This is the God who loves me so much he sent his Son to die for me. The God who defeated death. The God who made humankind with just dust and breath. That God is greater than anything I will ever face.
If the God who goes before me into battle is not afraid, then why should I be?
Let the lions roar. The Lamb is greater than them all.
Meg Christian lives in northern Virginia and volunteers in her church as a Sunday school teacher and worship team member. She attended Roberts Wesleyan University (NY).
© 2025 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
