Faith vs Fear

The subject of “fear vs faith” has been rolling around in my head for a few years now. I can’t say that I have it all figured out, not by any stretch of the imagination, but I thought I would write out some of the thoughts that have run through my head on this subject… maybe in this process I will get a little more clarity… or not :)

“… like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. (1 Peter 3:6)

The reason it has been rolling around in my brain is because most of the women God brings to me seem to be full of fear, on so many levels… and most of them are Christians. I get where some of the fears come from when you are dealing with a spouse of an addict, their whole marriage just blew up in their face and their future is uncertain and scary… These all seem like normal legitimate, and understandable fears, but the other fears like, fear of bugs, germs, flying, storms… those I don’t get so much. And some people even wear their fears like a badge of honor saying things like: “It’s my job to worry about my kids, if I don’t who will?” But I can’t help but hear the words of Jesus saying "do not worry” and “do not fear" over and over again... which leads me to believe that we can live our life completely, or mostly, free from fear and worry.

“But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. don’t be afraid." (Matthew 14:27)

So, why is it that we have so much fear in the body of Christ? Not that I don’t have my own struggles with fear, but it seems to me that, over the last few years, the fear level in general in the body of Christ has increased to new levels. Or, maybe it is just my “new” awareness of it and it’s always been there?? That may be the truth of the matter, but even still it makes me wonder, why is it even there at all when we have such an amazing and faithful God? Are we doing something wrong, do we not “get” something important?? What are we missing here??

“He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" (Mark 4:40)

For me personally I have noticed that the closer I get to the Lord, and the more I get to know Him, and see the amazing things He does in my heart and life, the more my faith grows and the less “fear” I have. So, would it be fair to say, we can know the depth of our relationship with Jesus by the degree of fear or faith we have in our lives? Or, in other words, if we think we know Jesus, but have more fear than faith, can we really say we “know” Him?

“…Immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." (Mark 6:50)

There was a time in my life when I self-righteously and pride fully “thought” I knew Jesus and would confidently tell anyone that asked me that I knew and loved Him! But fast forward 15 years, and LOTS of trials, refining fires and difficulties have come and gone, I look back and have to admit to myself, I didn't really have a clue who Jesus was back then!! And to be honest, I pray that my relationship grows even more in the next 15 years so I can say again, I had no clue back then who Jesus was… I want to keep pressing into my relationship with Jesus more and more every day… I feel like Paul when he said, “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…” (Philippians 3:8) (Sometimes this is evident in my life and sometimes, no so much :P)

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18)

So, what exactly is fear? When I asked Tom he said: “The absence of faith... Faith in things other than God… Afraid that God won't do what he promised… The belief that things won’t go the way I want them to.” (I think he has something here…) Google says it is “an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.” And Dictionary.com adds: “a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined…”

“Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Luke 12:7)

And what is “faith”? Hebrews 11:1 says “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” When I think of faith I think about a young child completely unconcerned about the difficulties and stresses of life. A child who is with his daddy and has not a care in the world because he knows and trusts in his daddy and has that childlike confidence that his father will take care of everything. He doesn't think about where the food on the table comes from or the gas in the car, or the roof over his head, he just enjoys life with childlike faith. Hmmm…. That reminds me of when Jesus said:  “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3) Logically this makes no sense to us at all! What does He mean, “Change and become like little children”? I am a grown man or women and need to take care of my responsibilities! How can I revert back to the carefree life of a child!?  When Tom and I were talking about this I realized that maybe, what He means is, as we grow in our knowledge and faith in Jesus, we do change and the fears ebb away, our faith grows and we are just like little children, trusting in our heavenly Father so much that we no longer have any more worries, fears or concerns about where the food, rent, car payment, or job will come from. We will no longer worry about our children, our health or retirement because we have such childlike faith that our Father will take care of all things that we can go about our “adult” business and responsibilities without fear, trusting Him to care for us. Is this even possible?? I believe it is! But it certainly won’t happen overnight, and I think it is ONLY possible in our journey to KNOW GOD, surrendering OUR life and taking up His.

“But he said to them, "It is I; don't be afraid." (John 6:20)

The Word of God is refreshing to me. It calms my heart and is like a salve to my confused and conflicted mind and thoughts. I decided to look up the scriptures that would help me with this topic. The first one I found is one that I had never noticed before. This is the prophecy from Zachariah after John the Baptist was born and God loosed his tongue so he could speak again: “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us-- to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. (Luke 1:68-75) Did you catch that? We can serve him without fear all our days!

Is it truly possible to live a life without fear??