Faith vs. Fear

Faith and fear. Two little words. They are so significant in my life. I was listening to the radio this morning and heard this quote from Dr. Henry Hendricks. "Faith and fear are always in conflict in the Christian life." sehla!!!! Boy...that really speaks to me. I used to be a fairly fearful person. That is what was at the root of my controlling nature. Now, it took me a while to recognize this root of fear, but that is what it was. In my mind, if I could control all aspects of my surroundings, all aspects of my day, my world, I could keep bad stuff out. Yep...control was the answer. I have come to know....I mean KNOW...that if I am in control then that means I have placed myself above God. ME....higher than GOD! Good grief. When I see it in black and white....how ridiculous. For people that were not raised in a Christian home, this concept of self over God might come easy. The switching around to God over self might take quite a journey. On the other hand, for people raised in a Christian home AND have had some not so great things happen to them (which is more the norm than not), they might have a hard time REALLY putting God first. They might SAY God is first but their actions say otherwise. (after all, where was this God when yucky things were going on?) These people do all the right things, say all the right things but they are not living in any more freedom and peace than a non-Christian. Both scenarios...sad. So, what is a girl to do? Where is the answer? Well, I think the two words faith and fear kind of sum it all up. Well, for me it begins to sum it up. It gives me a starting place. I ask myself...am I afraid? Am I making a decision out of fear or with wise council and prayer? Do I find myself filled with anxiety about (fill in the blank)? Am I the one in control or at least I try to make it feel that way? If the answer to any of those questions is yes, then at the root of this is FEAR. Go ahead, think about it. If you peel the layers away, if you get to the root of each of those, as well as many other behaviors, you will find fear. Now, for those that are Believers, or for those that would like to be, or those that are doubtful but are at their wits end so they will try God on for size......I will give you this. In scripture, we are told "do not be afraid" time and time again. As a matter of fact, 365 times. Huh...interesting. Once for each day. Why is this said so much? Well, I have come to know our Lord and He tells us things about ourselves that we don't even realize. He knows that people, believers or current doubting believers or even unbelievers, will be afraid. Because of this fallen world we live in, fear is here. Fear is here to stay...as long as we let it. AS LONG AS WE LET IT. Fear is NOT from God, fear pushes us away from God (not God moving away from us but US doing the pushing), and most importantly, fear masks itself in all sorts of ways. So many ways. Ok....now what do we do? Well, I have come to know some scripture that has been very helpful to me. Well, all scripture has been helpful to me = 0 ) but here are some verses that I find myself leaning on and they have NEVER failed me. NEVER. (did I say NEVER failed me...i am a girl who has been failed by both parents, an adoptive parent, friends, best friends, boyfriends, aunts, uncles, etc...even my husband at times.....now, most of these people mentioned are good, kind, loving people. They did not mean to fail me but they did at one time or another) But God has never failed me...his word has never failed me. Ok....sorry....got off on a rabbit trail. Where was I? Oh yes, verses.

1 John 4:18 says...

There is no fear in love.

Ok....this verse says, there is no fear in love. You might be saying...ok. I get that. Who cares? How does that help me? Well, I want you to see THIS verse.

1 John 4:16 says...

God is love.

See where I'm goin'? Rather, see where God is going? Let's do some math. The word is, can be replaced with the = sign. Right? Right. So, with that, God = love. They are equal. They are the same. If we are fearful...we NEED to know that this is not God's design. This fear that we feel is not from God. NOT FROM GOD!! God knows that we are going to be/feel afraid. He told us we would by saying, don't be afraid 365x's. He is also telling us that this fear is not from him. If it is not from Him, where is it from? or maybe this...regardless of where it is from, we now know it is not from God. Do we really want anything that God says is not from Him? Not me. Not me. I think it is important to say, "in all things be well-balanced" (1 Peter 5:8) sooooo...if you are in the woods and a bear is chancing you, be afraid. And run. Also, I have times when I am feeling what I would call afraid and I have come to recognize it as God giving me the heads up on something. So try to STOP being afraid and just pray about it. Know what I mean? Okay......IF God tells us not to be afraid, how come we all feel so afraid so often? I am going to be bold and say, if you are a person who feels afraid more often than not, this is saying that your faith is not where God would like it to be. I know, I know...who do I think I am!!?? Well, I only speaking from personal experience. When I ran toward God, when I began to dive into my faith and all that that means, when I started to read the Word, we I started to pray.....my fear subsided. My faith grew and my fear subsided. I know that God has me. He has me. He will not drop me or forsake me. (this is scripture too but I am not finding it at this moment...I will work on it and get back to you). When one feels secure, loved, held....fear melts away. Why? Because fear and faith are always in conflict in the Christian life.