Not 365, but Enough
“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”Isaiah 41:10 (KJV)
You may have heard that “fear not” is in the Bible 365 times, one for every day of the year. It is a lovely idea, and it shows up on mugs and posters. But it isn’t true.
Count it in the King James and “fear not” appears 62 times. Add the similar phrases, “be not afraid,” “fear ye not,” “fear thou not,” and you still come nowhere near 365. We don’t need to inflate the Bible to make it comforting. It is comforting as it is.
Listen to one of them: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee.” Or the angel over Bethlehem: “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.”
Every one of those “fear not”s is tied to a reason: God is with you, God is your God, good news has come. That is enough for today, and tomorrow, and every day of the year.
Count it yourself
“fear not” appears 62 times in the KJV; “be not afraid” 28, “fear ye not” 8 and “fear thou not” 4.
What fear do you need to hear God’s reason against today?
Lord, you are with me and you are my God. Because of that, I will not fear. Amen.