Isaiah 8:11-14a11 The Lord has given me a strong warning, “Do not think like everyone else does. Do not be afraid that some plan … will be the end of you. Do not fear anything except the Lord Almighty. He is the Holy One. If you fear Him you need fear nothing else. He will keep you safe… Wow! Three things I see here:First, let me say that I have no idea what translation this is (my Bible says New Living Translation, but it’s different from what BibleGateway.com says in its New Living Translation, so… ????). 1. I shouldn’t be thinking like everyone else does. I should be thinking like Jesus, on the things He says to think about. It’s easy to think like the world – get stuff, look good, it’s all about me….Be afraid, very afraid… (Which brings me to my second point.) 2. Don’t fear all these plans made behind closed doors. (Like those being made by our government? Or my boss?) I get really frustrated because I feel so helpless and unable to voice my opinion about the insanity (my opinion) of the things that our government is doing. I’m not sure I’m afraid of them, except that they’ll start the apocalypse or something like that. But I know people who are afraid – stockpiling food, buying guns, etc. Here is says that this will not be the end of me. Well, theoretically it could be my end, but it’s saying that they don’t have the power to end everything. 3. Fear God alone. Don’t be afraid of other things. This one struck home because I fear a lot for my children – what if our car drives off a bridge into water or if there’s a car fire and I can’t get them out (hmmm… lot’s of fear with cars… what does that mean? Giant man-eating fish, no… Cars, yes). But I’m not supposed to be afraid of things like that because ultimately God is in control. He is Holy and all-powerful. So, I fear Him which leads to trust and increasing faith. I put my children and their wellfare in His hands, thanking Him for each moment I have with them. He says that He will keep me safe (and them) – and really, isn’t he the only who can keep us safe anyway? We can do what we want to try and prevent things, but we don’t really have a whole lot of control over things. God is God and He’s bigger than all the things I fear (including giant roaches that leap out of drawer at me – yuckyuckyuckyuckyuck!!!!!).