followHIM - "How do you 'fear not' in a scary world?": followHIM Favorites

Episode Date: September 16, 2022

Hank Smith and John Bytheway answer a question from this week's Come, Follow Me study.Show Notes (English, French, Spanish, Portuguese): https://followhim.co/old-testament/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/followhimpodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/followhimpodcastYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FollowHimOfficialChannelThanks to the followHIM team:Steve & Shannon Sorensen: Executive Producers, SponsorsDavid & Verla Sorensen: SponsorsDr. Hank Smith: Co-hostJohn Bytheway: Co-hostDavid Perry: ProducerKyle Nelson: Marketing, SponsorLisa Spice: Client Relations, Editor, Show NotesJamie Neilson: Social Media, Graphic DesignWill Stoughton: Video EditorKrystal Roberts: Translation Team, English & French Transcripts, WebsiteAriel Cuadra: Spanish TranscriptsIgor Willians: Portuguese Transcripts"Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise" by Marshall McDonaldhttps://www.marshallmcdonaldmusic.com/products/let-zion-in-her-beauty-rise-piano

Hello, everyone. Welcome to Follow Him Favorites. My name is Hank Smith. I'm here with the incredible John, by the way. If you've been following Follow Him Favorites this year, you know we take a single question from each week's lesson. John, the lesson we're on this week is Isaiah 40 through 49, and I wanted to take our question from chapter 43. It's where Isaiah says to Jacob and Israel, to all of his people, fear not. He says, fear not for I have redeemed thee. Yet, I know a lot of young people and a lot of old people that have a lot of fear. So John, what would you say to someone who says, how do you fear not in a world that is a scary place and the future is unknown? How have you feared not?

Well, what would you say is the opposite of fear, Hank? Would it be hope? Would it be? Yeah. Fear, faith? Yeah. Faith. It's not really optimism. It's faith. It's faith in something really much bigger and more powerful. And I believe it was Joseph Smith that said, doubt and fear cannot exist in the same mind alongside faith. One or the other will have to leave, something like that. And I get a boost of faith when I read the scriptures, when I watch general conference and see the faith and the countenances of the church leaders that talk to us, it sounds like a real easy answer, but it's kind of the big picture. We know God really loves us. He has a plan, and it's all going to work out.

In the meantime, we're going to have some ups and downs in life, but we kind of know the end. What do you think? Yeah, I would say, one, we can look to our past and see what the Lord has done. How often in the Book of Mormon are we told to remember what God has done? And coming this far, I think Elder Holland said, he's taken us this far. He's not about to just to leave us now. He has been with you up to this point. You can assume that he's going to continue on with you. Isaiah 41.10 says, Fear thou not, for I am with thee.

Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee. I will help thee. I will uphold thee with the hand of my righteousness. So part of that, John, you said is getting into the scriptures and then highlighting a verse like Isaiah 41.10, maybe putting it up on your mirror in your room, putting in your locker, putting it in your car. Somebody should put that verse to music, don't you think? Yeah, maybe make a hymn out of it and reread it over and over and say prayers about that.

Say, Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief. So I think partly looking back helps us look forward with faith, seeing all that the Lord has done. He's not about to just throw his hands in the air and walk away. Yeah. And President Nelson has talked about learning to hear him. And I think one of the things that I just, it's so remarkable that we have in the restored gospel is a patriarchal blessing. I mean, can you read that and not have some hope and not say, oh, look, the Lord has he's got me. He's got this. He knows what he's told me what to work on.

And then some people will say, well, I'm afraid I've forfeited the blessings in my patriarchal blessing. Part of what we learn reading the scriptures, listening to the prophets, we learn kind of the character of God, how forgiving he is, how eager he is to forgive and to help us. And we learn he's not eager to punish us or to say, oh, sorry, you missed it. If the Lord is telling us to forgive seven times seven, I think he's that way too. There's a saying I saw in a refrigerator somewhere, Hank, it said, well, none of us can go back and make a brand new beginning. All of us can begin where we are and have a brand new ending. And I think that you fear not. The Lord wants to love

you, wants to bless you, wants to help you. And that fills me with more faith than fear, just that knowledge. I think so too. He compares himself in Isaiah 49 to a mother and a newborn. He says, can a mother forget her newborn? That's how I feel about you. John, you have a brand new grandbaby. I bet when you watch your daughter with this baby, nothing is more important to her than this little child. She would never forget him. She would never abandon him. Even if he cried all night, she would be there right with him. So I think you're right with that, that the Lord is like a mother who wants to be part of your life, no matter what you've done.

Yeah. And those verses, Hank, I think are, he's using the example to show how absurd that is. Zion has said, the Lord hath forsaken me and my Lord has forgotten me. And to show how absurd that is, he says, well, can a woman forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? What? That's absurd. And then behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands. And I like to think for those who are watching of the sign language for Jesus, when I read that verse, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands. It would never forget us. He carries a reminder of us wherever he goes. There's even a point in this that builds my faith in Isaiah 44 and 45. Isaiah names a guy named Cyrus who has yet to be born.

And he says he's going to come and deliver the Jews. So if he can see that far ahead, if he can see hundreds of years ahead, you are in very safe and loving hands. So John, I think we've said, look to the past, look to the present, look to your patriarchal blessing, look to what God is doing, and your faith in the future will increase. And stay away from those things that cause you to fear. Avoid those things that cause you to fear and stay where your faith is going to be burning bright.

Elder Worthland used to tell a story about keeping the wolves at bay. They would have to keep their fires bright. This was years ago. They would want to keep the wolves away from the camp. So the fire had to be burning bright. And he compared that to a testimony. He said the same thing, that if we just keep adding to our faith, it keeps the fear away. So instead of trying to fight off the wolves yourself,

build your faith so hot and red that fear has no place. Yeah, I just can't even get close. Yeah, Love it. Well, we hope you'll join us next week for another follow him favorites. Come join us on our full podcast. It's called follow him. You can get it wherever you get your podcast.

We're with Dr. Terry ball this week. He is an archeo. Botanist. How cool is that? Archeo botanist has a PhD in archeo botany. So you're going to want to come over and check that out and And join us next week, of course, for another Follow Him Favorites.