And say to him, ‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah. (Isaiah 7:4 ESV)
Fear Not, because of Time.
I used to be afraid of roller coasters. Even though I couldn’t seem to stop myself from riding, those moments just before reaching the first apex were simply eye-widening terror. But eventually I realized that no matter how terrible the terror, it didn’t last long. Even when it seemed to last forever, roller coasters are quite fast. The longest lasting roller coaster in the world is the Steel Dragon 2000 in Japan. It lasts less than four minutes.
Why be afraid of something that only lasts four minutes?
Isaiah is making the same point to King Ahaz. He’s being attacked by two powerful nations. Fierce, experienced, and cruel, Ahaz’s enemies were the threat of the age. But as awe-inspiring as the threats of Syria (King Rezin) and Israel (King Remaliah) were, they would be minimized in less than 65 years. God, on the other hand, lives forever. Ahaz doesn’t need to fear something that is gone in the blink of an eye, compared to God.
The same is true for almost anything we are afraid of today. These things that we fear are but a blink of an eye, compared to our eternal God.
The wrong President in Power? … blink…
A political plan? … blink…
A pandemic? … blink…
Economic ebb and flow? … blink…
A terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day? … blink…
In fact, God’s existence in eternity is the trump card for any fear that knocks at our door. While our troubles are scary, when we remember that we join God in eternal life from the point of our conversion onward, their emotional power fades away.
After 10,000 years in heaven we won’t have any reason to remember the Pandemic of 2020. Any more than here on earth people remember Ozymandias. We remember this powerful ancient king from a hint in a poem, and a ruin in a desert. His (probably) terrifying reign was but a blink of an eye.
Fear not, because God wins the time war.