Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– Frederick W. Faber
God Is on Our Side
I loved dodgeball when I was in elementary school many years ago. Unfortunately, I was always picked last or next to last. No one wanted me on their side, but if you are a child of God, God is on your side. Romans chapter eight is one of the most encouraging chapters in the entire Bible, and in Romans 8:31 Paul wrote, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” Imagine if you were on God’s side. How confident would you be? We should be confident because God is for us, and this means that nothing can come against us.
No Fear of Man
David was running for his life for many years as King Saul was trying to kill him, but he rested in God and wrote, “In God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me” (Psalm 56:11). “Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear” (Psalm 112:8). He confidently wrote, “The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me” (Psalm 118:6)? The apostle John wrote in 1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”
Either For Me or Against Me
We, who are the children of God, must realize that Jesus died for us, and He is for us, but He also said, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters” (Matt 12:30). Collectively of His disciples, He said, “For whoever is not against us is for us” (Mark 9:40), and repeated it again, saying, “For whoever is not against you is for you” (Mark 9:50). Near the end of Paul’s life, everyone had forsaken him, as he wrote, “At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it” (2 Tim 4:16-17). When everyone else had fled Paul at his great hour of need, Jesus never did. For believers, we too can rest assured that they always win who side with God.
Conclusion
God has said that “never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Heb 13:5). So we must not fear what anyone can do, as Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt 10:28). Since God is for you and will never leave or forsake you, what do you have to worry about? We win if God is on our side, and He is on the sides of those who have repented and trusted in Christ.
