Fearful Words

 

Isaiah 37:6 Do not be afraid because of the words you have heard…

 I have always felt afraid of bad news, but then again, who does not fear that?  

 I remember well the day the doctor said to me, “Your father is dying.”  Even though it was almost 30 years ago now, and more recently (some 10 years ago) when the hospice nurse said, “Your mother has just  a few more hours,”  the memories of both events stays vivid in my memory. Both were fearful words to have to hear and yet, as the prophet Isaiah told King Hezekiah in this verse, I was not afraid of those words when I heard them.  I knew that God was going to take care of them and of me and our family and that my father's and later my mother's “fate” was already a secure one. Their faith in the work of Christ on their behalf was an accomplished fact; their salvation and future in heaven was secure. So, when my father took his last breath, I felt a blanket of peace fall over me, and when my mother breathed her last some 20 years later that same comfort arrived in the room.  I did not have to be afraid because of any mere words.  God had all in control.  They were just words and words cannot do any permanent harm. I did not have to be afraid of the fearful words.