Fear vs. Faith

As we sit down this afternoon with the new issue of PFW, I thought you and I could have a talk about Fear. What fears you might have; what and who you should be afraid of - and why. Fear is defined as: 1) a feeling of anxiety and agitation caused by the presence or nearness of danger, evil, or pain; and 2) respectful dread, awe, and/or reverence. Reverence is the feeling of love and utmost respect for someone. Awe is reverence.

The first definition listed is pertaining to things that we can be afraid of in both the physical sense and in the mind: imminent danger - an accident, a lost child, or a stranger breaking into your house; the devil, bad people or sickness, these are the physical realm. Being afraid of people making fun of your fears therefore you tell no one about them; the dark, spiders, snakes, heights, small spaces, any and all phobias, these are fears of the mind, but no less real. Then there is the person who is just afraid of life itself. We live in a scary world; Satan takes every opportunity to paralyze us with Fear.

Let’s look fear right in the face and see what Jesus Christ can do about it. All of the fears that we harbor in our minds and which are very real to us can be taken care of by Christ. In 2 Timothy 1:7 it states “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love and a sound mind.” Power: God has given us the spirit of Power – but when we relinquish God’s authority and give in to Fear, (which is a tool of Satan) we have given control of our lives to that fear. Love: God’s love brings peace and real joy, if you are a believer this was given to you at Salvation. You have only to claim it, and act upon it. A Sound Mind: Isn’t it interesting that God reiterates what is already covered in Power and Love, and makes this point crystal clear. Christians are not to be ruled by their minds, or by dark imaginations, or by doubts or fears. God has given us through the Holy Spirit, a sound mind. It does not say God offered, or made available, it says God has given us… a sound mind. But just as with every aspect of our Christian walk, the tool is there, we often don’t utilize it, hiding God’s precious blessings to us beneath our cares, thoughts and desires.

Your God truly wants you to fear only Him, which is the second definition of fear…remember awe and reverence. Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.” It has been said that Wisdom is the correct use of Knowledge. Only in the “fear of the Lord,” i.e. the awe and reverence of God Almighty, Creator and Judge of all, can we defeat the other fears that arise in our hearts. Satan’s attacks come in many different and subtle forms, and the mind is sometimes one of the easiest targets. Only through the Word, will we have that Power, Love and Sound Mind with which to fight his attacks.

Proverbs 8:13 “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil, pride and arrogancy, and the evil way and the froward mouth, do I hate.” Sometimes this is very hard to do, but with God’s help we can overcome all of our earthly fears. It is always a matter of taking one step of faith at a time. God said it, if we will trust Him and do it; He never fails to confirm His Word to us. He never promised us a rose garden on earth, but he did promise us Power, Love and a Sound Mind while in our earthly body, and eternal life, which means forever with Him.

For every fear, there is a solution and you can find all the answers for these in your Bible. Your biggest problem in your walk with fear is your lack of faith. Faith is not the easiest thing to have when all around you seems to be falling apart. All the things you fear; rejection, abuse, your parents leaving you, death; seem to get in the way. But God gives you the way; all you have to do is listen. Hebrews 11:1 “Faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen.” In other words you can’t see it or touch it, you just know its there. God is all around you; in the trees, breeze, and in all the flowers that abound around you. This is God’s creation. Hebrews 13:5 says “I will never leave you or forsake you.” And God never breaks his promises. I might, your parents might, your friends might, your brothers and sisters might, but God won’t. All it takes is a little faith. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” Faith can move mountains and remove all your fears. This isn’t saying you won’t ever be afraid again; you will and I will. But if we pray to God for our strength and for help we can and will over come. “So that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do to me.” (Hebrews 13:6) “And again, I will put my trust in him…” (Hebrews 2:13)

After all this, you might be asking me why does God let bad things happen. It is a thing called ‘free will.’ God didn’t want robots, everyone doing the same thing, so He gave us free will. Everyone knows the difference between right and wrong, unfortunately we do not always follow in doing right instead of wrong. We all know that God wants us to do the right thing. But, do you ever lie to your friends; do you cheat at cards or games? When you choose to do any thing that you know is not right it is called ‘free will.’ You have made the decision to do wrong, not God. This same thing happens with all of us. We make the decision to do wrong and end up hurting the ones we love, but we made that decision, not God. God truly wants us to make the right decisions and to love and respect him, but unfortunately, we do not always follow God’s plan. He still loves us even though he doesn’t approve of our sin, but He will still be there for us. When we pray to God for strength He will give it to us. All we need is faith. God gives us hope and unfailing love. All He wants is for us to love Him back. (He did gave us his only begotten Son so that we might have everlasting life.) What greater love is there?

The best way to overcome all our fears is to read and to study our Bible daily. God has put all the answers in His Living Word, this in itself will alleviate those things that we fear most. 1 John 4:18-19 “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear; because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us.”

Fear versus faith… all we need is the love for Jesus Christ and faith that in His own time He will make everything perfect for us. It might not be in our lifetime but He will do everything He promised He would do.

Fear is a natural emotion, but do not let it take over your life. Let God into your hearts and He will be there for you. God loves you and will always love you no matter what. Once Jesus Christ is in your heart, He will never let you go! Isn’t that wonderful.

by Ellen Clugston