DEUTERONOMY 31:6, 8
Friedrich Gustav Emil Martin Niemöller (popular known as Martin Niemöller) was born on January 14th, 1892 and died on March 6th, 1984. He was a German theologian and Lutheran pastor. He is best known for his opposition to the Nazi regime during the late 1930s and for his widely quoted 1946 poem “First they came …”.
Niemöller was a national conservative and initially supported Adolf Hitler, but he became one of the founders of the Confessing Church, which opposed the Nazification of German Protestant churches while some German church leaders gave in to Hitler.
Niemöller, who was imprisoned in Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps from 1938 to 1945, and who narrowly escaped execution was able to resist fear not because he possessed some phenomenal anti fear chromosome, but because of God’s grace.
The call to courage came at a critical time in the history of Israel. They had left Egypt; they were about to enter the promised land; and Moses, the only leader the people had known was about to depart. It was a period of uncertainty. But there was no reason to tremble before an uncertain future because God was with them.
What fears are we facing? Let us allow God’s presence to bring courage to our hearts?
Living unafraid does not mean that we do not feel fear, but that we do not allow it determine our decisions and actions.
