You may be facing all kinds of fears today. They are scary. They are hammering on your heart. More than these fears, you need to be alert to the shepherd who is protecting you and the enemy who wants to devour you. You need to be alert to the tactic of the enemy, which is to get to you bolt out from under the care and protection of Jesus. Satan is trying to get you to panic. He is trying to get you to feel vulnerable and question God’s care and control. He’s trying to get you to cut and run. Because as soon as you take matters into your own hands, as soon as you see yourself alone and uncared for in the world, as soon as you become convinced that your good shepherd is a bad shepherd or a powerless shepherd, you are going to bolt…and that is when life will start to eat you up. Problems will start to eat you up. Despair will start to eat you up. Bad habits, addiction, rage, and escapism…they all want to swallow you up. So you need to be alert. Not to what scares you, but to who cares for you. This is why the command in scripture over and over and over is, ‘do not be afraid.’