Faith, NOT fear

How do we deal with the unknown and the unexplainable?

We can find “fun” in and “get a rush” from scary situations, as long as we know they are controlled and temporary. Manageable anxiety is acceptable.

But what about prolonged, increasing anxiety over scary situations that aren’t controlled or temporary? Just the mention of certain words can strike fear into the boldest of hearts. Words like “failure,” “foreclosure,” “bankruptcy,” “divorce,” “cancer,” “earthquake,” “hurricane,” “terrorists,” “accident” and “bomb” now carry more meaning to us because we realize they are not imaginary threats somewhere in a land far, far away. In all likelihood, it already has happened, it is happening now, or it will happen one day to all of us.

Let’s be honest: just the thought scares us – some more than others. In most instances, it’s not dying we’re afraid of. Our faith in Christ – if it’s genuine – offers us hope and comfort in that hour.

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No, what we tend to fear is living. And living is something we all want to do, have to do. Only we don’t live in a world of our own or on our own. We live in a world of people on whom we depend and whom depend upon us. A single person in a single second can alter our lifestyle. What took years, sweat and tears to establish can be destroyed in minutes. All these things are facts. Whether we like it or not, that’s just the way that it is.

Fear greatly diminishes our enjoyment of life, saps our strength, and ultimately brings about what we don’t want to happen. It’s like a magnet that attracts evil to us. It can even paralyze us into inaction in which we don’t live or even merely exist; we just survive. Fear turns us into victims rather than victors. It can make us neurotic, psychotic, schizophrenic, and a hypochondriac.

Realizing the power of fear, no wonder Satan uses it so effectively. The evidences are all around us in the world in which we live. We medicate, meditate, incarcerate, intoxicate, multi-date, lose weight, over ate, vegetate, hyperventilate, and calculate in our efforts to evade our fears. Yet no matter how we try to escape, reality always seems to catch us, take us by surprise, and knock the wind out of us.

If only we would obey two little, two-word commandments from God, all of our fears could and would be alleviated. These commandments are not part of the 10 Commandments, so we tend to overlook them to our own hurt. Yet observing them will radically change our thinking and therefore our existence.

So what are these two simple, two-word commandments? The first one is found repeatedly in the New Testament. It is “Fear not.” Places where it can be found are: Matthew 1:20; Matthew 10:31; Matthew 28:5; Luke 1: 13, 30; Luke 2:10; Luke 5:10; Luke 8:50; Luke 12:7, 32;  and John 12:15.

The second one is also found just once in Mark 11:22. It is “Have faith.”

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Make no mistake about it: if we are not obeying these two commands, then life is
just going to become more and more unbearable. It won’t be that way necessarily because of our actual circumstances, but because of the way we think and feel about our circumstances.

Please don’t misunderstand what I’m saying. Faith is not a guarantee against bad things occurring in life; instead, it is the key to overcoming what happens in life. Faith enables us to enjoy life – not just endure it. It gives us hope to get up when we fall and to try again if we fail. It is the peace that we have when we don’t understand. It is the security that makes us safe from ultimate destruction. It is the sugar that sweetens bitter news and events, making them easier to receive.

While we’re surrounded by threats real and imagined, let’s confess our sin of unbelief. As long as we fear anything that might happen to us, we are committing the sin of unbelief. We are breaking one of the Lord’s commands when we are fearful. It is an insult to God’s integrity when we don’t trust Him at all times and in every situation. Again, we have a command to “Trust in the Lord at all times, and lean not to our own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).

But let’s not stop at confession of unbelief; let’s rededicate ourselves to our profession of faith! Rather than rehearse over and over again with our mouths negative “what if’s,” we need to learn and proclaim what God has said in His word. We need to call ourselves and others “the blessed of the Lord.”

We need to say to ourselves, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” We need to encourage ourselves with “psalms, hymns and spiritual songs making melody in our hearts to the Lord”.

Let us remind ourselves “All things work together for the good of those who love the Lord and are the called according to His purpose.”And “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning us.”