Who is For Us

by Nate Hempel, Elder

Recently I had the opportunity to go mountain climbing with my son, Topher.  It was an ugly start to our mountain climbing experience as a thunderstorm moved through the area that morning, but we joined our group in the rain for orientation.  We got harnessed up and learned all about our equipment.  Topher excitedly moved across the practice wall and learned how to clip in to the cables.  When our practice was done, he and I headed to the first course ready to begin our day of climbing.

As we walked to the first course, some of his excitement started to disappear.  He clipped in to the first cable and began his ascent to the course. The realization of how high he was truly sank in and fear quickly swept in.  I tried to reassure him that he was all right, but to get from the ladder onto the first course there was a large gap that had to be crossed.  The grips were high and wet.  That gap was just too much for him at ten years old to attempt.  He decided that he wanted to come back down.  Fear got the best of him that day, but I wanted him to know how proud of him I was for trying.

Fear has a way of sneaking in on us and robbing us of opportunities.  Fear changes our perspective on life and keeps us from reaching out to cross over the gap.  Our family has been working through some experiences of fear and recently we read the story of Elisha and his servant together.  Elisha had been letting the king of Israel know where his enemies were going to attack so they could never ambush Israel.  Getting fed up with that, the enemies of Israel decided they would attack Elisha instead.  During the night the enemy snuck up and surrounded Elisha’s home.  When his servant went out in the morning, he was greeted by a vast army.  The only thing he could see in that moment was the enemy that stood before him.  He froze in fear and then returned, panicked to Elisha.  The prophet prayed that God would open the eyes of his servant and change his perspective so he would see what was really going on, not be overwhelmed by fear.  His servant suddenly saw the angel armies of God surrounding them and watching over them.  The servant, once he had a new perspective, could rest in God’s provision and protection.

Fear robs our perspective and keeps us looking at the wrong thing.  When we have the perspective of fear we see what is happening around us and miss what God is doing for us.  We serve a God who is in control every step of the way.  We serve a God who is for us and not against us.  Let’s lift our eyes up to the truth and see what God is doing all around us.  He is already at work.  Just like Elisha’s servant, in those times of fear we need to remember that God has and will continue to provide and we can rest in that.