Immune to Fear - Week 1Намуна

 Faith Without Questions or Qualifiers! 

Fear and unbelief are not intellectual responses, but emotional responses of the heart from a lack of faith in God. Meaning the root of unbelief isn’t in the mind, but in the heart. 

Unfortunately, “faith” has become a religious generalization. Authentic faith is accepting the credibility of God— “He who promised is faithful” (Heb. 10:23). Faith means we leave things up to Jesus, step out in trust, and obey Him at His word. “Trust in the Lord,” is a foundational biblical principle, and that should be followed by the attitude, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15). 

Jesus expects us to trust Him with this kind of attitude and response. How do we know this? Well, He made the most striking statement in the book of Luke, “They will put some of you to death. And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But not a hair of your head shall be lost” (Luke 21:16–18). 

He expects our trust no matter what the outcome. Faith is not merely showing approval for scripture, or being an expert on doctrine. We can be biblically correct, but void of any real trust in God. Faith is childlike trust in Jesus and full surrender of our lives to Him. For example, putting qualifiers on prayers like, “I’ll believe in You, God, if You answer this prayer,” shows a gross ignorance of the whole understanding of what faith is. 

You see, God does not always do what we think He should do. In fact, that is why we have to trust Him! If He always answered every prayer in the way and timing we wanted, faith would not be necessary. Also, we must remember that God is God, and we are not. If we demand to know why God does or does not do something as a condition for our trust, then we do not have true faith. God accepts no terms for our trust in Him. He is the creator of the Universe! He does not conform to the pattern of our small thinking in order to convince us to believe. If we do not believe, it is always our loss, not His. May we never doubt in God or in His goodness towards us. 

Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.” 

Also, Psalms 34:8 says, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!” When we fully believe that He exists, He is good, and He loves us, all the qualifiers and questions fall away. 

Like a child in the arms of his father, we are able to find rest for our souls. “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’” (Psalm 91:1-2)

Source: (Adapted from Taking Action. pg.145-147)