How wonderful to see God’s understanding of us and our needs. God knows our anxieties and fears and assures us to trust in Him. Many times He tells us, “fear not.” Someone once told me that the thought of this phrase is repeated 365 times in the Bible, one a day for the whole year. Even so, God recognizes that we may be fearful, and He makes provision for us. We see this in His instruction to Israel in relation to war. Those who feared the impending battle did not have to go out to fight (Dt. 20:8). We see God’s patience with Gideon, answering his request about the fleece twice, and then in the amazing explanation of the dream of an enemy soldier (Judg. 6–7).

How wonderful to see God’s dealings with us, His patience with us, His understanding of our weakness. But do we have the same understanding, mercy, and care for our brother or sister when they display or express their fear or weakness?

Paul said, “if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat” (1 Cor. 8:13). And in Romans 15:1–3 we are told to “bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification.” Also, we are to “strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees” (Heb. 12:12). We do not all have the same measure of faith, but may the one who does have faith exercise it according to the measure received from the Lord, recognizing that it is from Him. Along with this should be the attitude, “in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself … Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:3–5).