Fear Not: You Are Mine

Scripture: Isaiah 43:1–13

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

 I have called you by name, you are mine.” 

Isaiah 43:1

Advent invites us to listen again to the God who speaks into the places where we feel lost or overwhelmed. Isaiah 43 opens with breathtaking tenderness: God claims His people before they can reach for Him. He calls them by name, reminds them they belong to Him, and assures them that no circumstance can remove them from His care. For a weary and scattered nation, these words meant everything. And for us, they reveal the heart of the season: Christ comes not because we have prepared well, but because we are loved. Even in the waters and fires we face, His promise remains—“I will be with you.”

The Desert Fathers understood that silence clears a space in which God’s reassurance can settle into the heart. Henri Nouwen wrote, “Silence is the way to make solitude a reality,” because it opens an inner room where God may speak tenderly again. Jesus echoes this posture in Luke 21:25–36, urging His followers not to be weighed down with fear but to stay awake, attentive, and ready to lift their heads when their redemption draws near. Waiting becomes not passive resignation but the quiet courage of listening for the God who comes to find us.

Finally, Isaiah centers our attention on what is most true: “Apart from Me there is no savior.” This gentle truth turns us from the lesser lights we chase—our attempts to control outcomes or secure our own future—and draws us back to the One who alone can redeem and sustain us. God’s faithfulness in the past, His presence in the present, and His promise for the future all meet here. We are invited to entrust our story to the God who holds time, history, and our hearts in His unfailing hands.

Prayer 

Lord Jesus, Steady our hearts when fear rises, and hold us in Your loving presence. Open new paths before us and bring together what is broken inside us.Teach us to wait with patience, watchfulness, and hope. Amen.