Isaiah 41:10, “Do not fear, for I am with you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely, I will help you, surely, I will uphold you with My righteous hand.” Remember Freshman Initiation? Notice I didn’t say Freshman Orientation. The high school I attended had Freshman Initiation. It was a small town and starting high school was a big thing. Freshman students got the lockers on the bottom floor away from most of the classes. You had to carry all your books for your morning classes all at once. We didn’t have time to go to our lockers between classes, because all of our morning classes were on the third floor. The prior eight years of school you only had one teacher, and everything was kept in one desk. You quickly learned as a freshman what it felt like to be unimportant. Why the walk down memory lane? My most treasured memory of high school is an odd one. As I mentioned, my high school had Freshman Initiation. One day standing in the lunch line, one of my friends was ahead of me in line, so I cut in line to be with her. I was quickly jerked back and told freshmen don’t get to cut in line. At that exact time, my big brother who was a Senior, was leaving the lunchroom and saw what happened. He quickly confronted the guy and told him I was his sister and if this guy every put a hand on me again, he would have to face Steve’s wrath. The guy apologized and said he didn’t know I was Steve’s sister. As I read this verse this morning, my mind went back to that day. I never faced Freshman initiation. Never had my books thrown down the stairs or locked in a janitor’s closet. I was still a freshman, but everyone knew who my brother was and I was his sister. This verse is saying just that. “Don’t fear, for I am with you.” It isn’t who you are but who God is and when you are one of His, you don’t need to be afraid. Romans 8:31 says, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?” Romans 8:37-39 tells us, “But in all things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor height, nor depth, nor any created things, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” For He is my God, who strengthens me, helps me, and upholds me in His righteous hand.