And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. (1 Sa 12:20)
In our house, the dog is at the bottom of the power pyramid. Even below the cats, in our mind. He is bigger, stronger, and more dangerous, so we taught him to leave them alone. When he jumped at Oz the cat yesterday, RIGHT in front of me, he knew he was in trouble. He lay his head on the ground, his ears went back, his sad eyes looked up at me, and he was afraid.
His guilt made him afraid.
I struggle with fear when I am feeling guilty, too. When speeding, I am afraid of the sheriff. When leaving a meeting early, I am afraid of being noticed. When late paying a bill, I am afraid that every phone call is a shut off notice.
When I was out past my curfew, I was afraid of my kind, patient, loving father.
And when I am thinking about my Sin and my sin… I think that God is punishing me.
But He is not. He already punished Jesus for all my Sin and for every sin. He already punished Jesus. He killed Him. He does not punish twice.
Samuel had just finished yelling at the Israelites for wanting a king like the other nations had. They had made a bad decision. They had ignored Moses’ earlier advice, and Samuel’s urgings and had disobeyed God. And they had come to realize it. They cried out in their guilt and sorrow and shame. They were afraid that God was going to justly and rightly treat them as it seemed they deserved.
But Samuel tells them to serve the Lord… with all their heart. When afraid, he is saying, submit again to God.
Samuel didn’t have the Gospels and the Pauline epistles to explain exactly how God’s Grace and Mercy work. But Samuel knew already that God would not forsake His people. Samuel knew that Adam and Eve’s heir would smash the serpent’s head. Even though Eve had first eaten the fruit, and Adam had Eaten the Fruit.
And so, even though the people had seriously sinned, Samuel could with confidence direct them away from fear and towards the Lord.
You, too, have sinned. Maybe you think that the troubles of your life are God’s anger, God’s wrath, or God’s justice. But God’s anger, wrath, and justice were spent on Jesus on the day Jesus said, “It is finished.”
So why are hard things happening? It is not God’s anger. If He is perhaps teaching you something, that is nothing to fear. Trust the Teacher’s hand. If He is perhaps giving the effect due your cause, that is nothing to fear. He loves you and does things (everything) for your good. If He is perhaps doing something we don’t understand, that is nothing to fear. He’s smarter than you are.
Don’t be afraid, remember He claims you, and you serve Him.