Faith vs Fear, Faith or Fear, Faith and Fear?
There is a war going on. Part of it seen in the ridiculous or overbearing (hoarding) actions and behaviors of some. However, most of is it not seen, as it builds in the hearts and minds of many. You and I have to read between the lines, where fear and panic can be found! This pandemic is as much about faith and fear today as numerous other points in history from which our ancestors evolved yesteryear.
We cannot let the restrictions and fatalities of this temporary state of affairs stop us from having faith and hope for a better future! Faith is the tool that levels the playing field when we are attacked. Make no mistake, God does not order evil, but He will use evil for the benefit of testing or maturing His people. As long as we look only at the health risks set among us and the loss of funds, we will miss the fact that this is a direct attack on the Churches of God. This enemy seeks to stop faith from doing Its job, directly connecting with God! Our defense: Get to know who He is. Learn firsthand about God’s presence, His character and intentional actions of grace, mercy, love, peace and joy. Dare to search ourselves for the elements of change within us that help assemble our God given destiny steps.
Fear Blocks
Fear is one emotion that no one has to teach us. It can be both a good sign and a bad sign, depending on our point of view. It’s good to fear fire enough to stay away from it because it will burn you. But it’s bad to fear taking actions in life that are aimed at growth and advancement because you are afraid to fail. This leads to a life without clear directives, peace, or joy. And just to make this parallel on fear more abstract, consider that the thought of “good” or “bad” can be relevant or meaningless in many cases. Even God twists these opposites around! He takes what was meant for evil, a bad thing, and turns it around for our good.
Many times on Facebook I’ve read and heard speakers say that they have heard there are 365 “fear nots” written in the Bible, including “Do not fear” and “Have no fear.” When I Googled fear to verify that fact, I found a list of people who used a concordance to find the scripture references, and many reported they found about 119 scriptures about fear.
I think that people are well-meaning when they push forward the point that fear is dangerous and has to be contended with. Besides, we really shouldn’t need the Bible to say it 365 times in order to heed the warning every day—119 times is still a lot.
Yet, in some way or another, we all have to deal with fear on a regular basis, even though it’s the element that clogs up our progress in Christ every time. We often find it hard to do what we need to because we are afraid of what the outcome will produce, or afraid of the process to get to the other side. We allow ourselves to hang by the throat with trouble and pain because we run from God’s direction. His Ways are always different than ours and always it will cost us something, but it is always for our own good.
Not being afraid or having no fear are character actions we have to be aware of and regulate often. Try we must, at all times, to let our faith be bigger than our fear! Sometimes we have to do a thing afraid (we feel it but don’t allow it to overtake us).
Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 (NASB).
There is no advantage in being fearful of allowing God to do what He wills in our lives or through our lives! When what we see does not look like the promises we seek from God, we must put faith in the gap. He has not changed His mind about you or me or our destiny; He has only changed His method. The message that He intends for us to have is still the same.
Excerpt from: “Illusions Against Faith, God Knows What Needs Fixing” Chapter 4 Gracefully Broken, pages 42-43;
Author, Gayle Smith 2019.
