Fear thrives in isolation and uncertainty. So often, we feel that if we could just change our circumstances—if the storm would stop, the bills were paid, or the health reports were different—our fear would vanish. Yet the Bible gives us a different strategy. God rarely removes the obstacle before he offers us peace. Instead, as we touched on in Part 1, he offers us his presence as we face it.
This is the ‘Emmanuel Principle’. When the angel spoke to Joseph to explain Mary’s situation, he addressed a man whose life had been turned upside down by confusing and scandalous circumstances. The command was familiar: ‘Joseph, thou son of David, fear not’ (Matthew 1:20). Matthew reminds the reader the source of courage soon after, when he quotes the prophecy from Isaiah 7:14.:
‘Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.’ Matthew 1:23.
The name Emmanuel is the ultimate antidote to fear. In the Old Testament, the Israelites knew God was with them through pillars of fire and clouds of glory. But in Jesus, God became flesh. He stepped into our world, breathed our air, and walked our dusty roads.
The courage we find in Jesus is not based on a change in our situation, but on a change in our company. Fear tells us we are alone in the dark. Faith tells us that the Light of the World is standing right next to us. When Jesus’ disciples were caught in a violent storm on the Sea of Galilee, their terror was real, but Jesus responded with a rebuke: ‘Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?’ (Matthew 8:26). He wasn’t rebuking them for noticing the waves, but for forgetting who was in the boat with them.
Centuries before the birth of Christ, King David understood the Emmanuel principle perfectly. He wrote:
‘Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.’ Psalm 23:4.
David didn’t say he would fear no evil because the valley has ended. He said he would fear no evil because ‘thou art with me’. And the transition from talking about God (‘he leadeth me beside the still waters’) to talking to God (‘thou art with me’) happens specifically when David enters the valley. It’s in our darkest moments that the presence of God and his Son is at its most intimate and their comfort becomes the most tangible.
David also mentions God’s ‘rod and staff’. In a shepherd’s hands, these were not weapons of punishment, but tools of protection and guidance. The rod was used to ward off predators, just as Jesus stands between us and the enemy who seeks to devour our peace. The staff was used to gently pull a wandering sheep back to the path, just as Jesus guides our steps when fear makes the way ahead look indomitable.
To have courage today, we don’t need to know what tomorrow holds, but we do need to know who is already there. When we are in a ‘valley season’, we must stop looking at the length of the road and start looking at the person walking beside us.
Jesus did not come just to give us a set of rules; he came to give us himself. Because he is the Emmanuel, we are never the only one in the room. We are never the only one at the hospital bedside. We are never the only one facing the ‘what-ifs’.
We are not alone. We have ‘God with us’ through Emmanuel, Christ our Lord.
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