“I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mere mortals, human beings who are but grass, Isaiah 51:12 

People often fear other people. They fear leaders, they fear neighbors, they fear others on the street, they fear nearly everyone. This fear comes from not being able to trust anyone.

There are many cases when a person has hurt another person. Very often this even occurs among those who are loved ones. Parents hurting children or children hurting parents. Brothers and sisters hurting each other.

With such hurt occurring everywhere, most people tend to fear others. In having this fear, they strive to live to please other people and lose the focus of reality in their lives.

In this passage, God points out that it is He, Himself, who comforts them. Then He asks why they fear other people who are just grass, not really anything.

Fear of people runs rampant in this world, including inside the church. People fear leaders, who make decisions that go against God. They fear the world and what the world is promoting and allowing.

In the process of allowing all of this fear, many are forgetting who God is and the comfort He can bring. God is eternal, while man is mortal. People are only here for a short time and then will pass on. Those in power can only work their power for a short time. It will not last for eternity.

Instead of fearing man, believers must take comfort in knowing that God is with them. God is always right there to comfort and strengthen His people in this world of sin. God’s love and comfort will not just last for a short time, but will be there for eternity. His salvation is permanent.

As you are going through your days on this earth, there will rise up people in your life who will seem to have absolute power. They don’t have that kind of power. They are just mere humans who will die some day.

Decisions and choices will be made that will go against you and against God. Do not fear those decisions. Look to God who is there to comfort you.

Do not forget that Jesus sent the comforter, the Holy Spirit, to be with you. He is there to hold you up and bring you through to eternal life some day. Trust in God alone and do not fear what man can do.

I pray today that you will know the salvation Jesus provides; that you will know the comfort of the Holy Spirit; that God will remove all fear of man; and that your trust in God will only increase.