Choicesமாதிரி

Will you choose faith?

Earlier we talked about two kinds of fear, one driving us to God, another holding us back.   

Phobia fears immobilize and paralyze us. These fears turn into worry, anxiety, and stress overtaking our minds. We worry until we get the phone call that our son arrived safely to his destination. We are afraid to open that bill. We are fearful of the doctor’s news. We are locked in terror when the phone rings in the middle of the night. I’ve received more than one call from someone reporting one of our teens had been in a car accident. Thankfully, none were badly injured, but the fears immediately raged in my heart and mind. How would I survive a loss like that?

There is only one remedy for the crippling effects of fear. Faith. Now, that is simple sounding. Just have faith. But what does that even mean? We all have faith in something, but it is the object of our faith that matters.

In our English language, faith is both a noun and a verb. The noun, faith, is what we believe to be true. It’s not a difficult thing to believe a chair will hold us up when we sit down. Our faith is in the integrity of the chair. It’s easy to have faith that when we drop something, it will fall. Our faith is in gravity. It’s also not difficult for most of us to have faith in the existence of God or that His words are true for others. But when we are faced with deep fear and anxiety or disappointment in our lives, we have a hard time believing His words are true for us. Fears consume our thoughts and we are left drifting, unstable, and tossed about. That’s when the verb matters. Faith without action is dead. Active faith is alive and is lived out in our thoughts and actions.

The hard reality is that fear of any outcome in our life is a lack of belief and trust in God.

Active faith in a holy God takes our wayward thoughts and holds them captive, making them believe that He will see us through even the worst situations. Active faith holds confidence in an unseen God, not in what He will or will not do for us.

Fear and faith cannot coexist. Faith in God is sure and certain, because God is sure and certain. Faith in God believes that He knows all things, sees all things, and is always working for our good, even when it doesn’t seem like it. Fear is about feelings. Faith is about belief. Fear stops us while faith propels us. 

When we choose faith in God, believing His powerful words and immense love for us, we are choosing Him and His ways over anything our mind wants us to think. He teaches us to look with spiritual eyes, not at what our life looks like in the moment or what our feelings are saying. Even when all else seems to be falling apart, He still says to look to Him, to trust Him, to believe Him. Alternatively, Satan dances around our fears of the what-ifs, should-haves, and if-onlys, waiting for us to join him in the chaos and turmoil of our own understanding.

Which will you choose? Fear or faith?

Choose faith in God. It is the only antidote to fear.