Faith and Fear

by

Pastor B.J. Knefley 

Faith and fear, are they distant cousins or twins? Are they similar or polar opposites? Interestingly, they both require faith in the unseen. Fear will keep us stuck and immobilized whereas faith moves us toward trusting the unknown. One binds us up while the other frees us up.

Fear is disempowering. In fear we become paralyzed by what we project as being our reality. We worry and project scenarios as if they were going to happen and respond accordingly. The more we follow this line of thinking, anxiety, horror and dread become our emotional diet. The more we focus upon what we fear, the deeper we go into the abyss of helplessness and paranoia. We find ourselves responding to not what is true but what we think is true and just like that we’ve swallowed the lie that ensnares so many. Helpless and paralyzed we succumb to what we believe will happen and by faith we accept it as our life.

According to Hebrews 11:1, “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see,” It is in this faith that one has hope, not fear. It is based upon the testimony of others, not the inner thoughts of an individual. It is about promises that have stood the test of time and shown to be true and faithful. It is not about irrational thoughts but rather thoughts that are built upon the building blocks of others who have gone before us. The testing of faith shows to the individual that it is trustworthy and with each passing test of faith, it continues to grow. We trust because we see others walking before us with calm certainty and peace.

Fear and faith require one to look into the unknown, the unseen. They both represent choice. I choose to trust, or I don’t. I can’t straddle the fence. If I do, I will probably succumb to whichever voice I feed. Interestingly, God often beckons us to test Him to see if He is faithful. Those that do walk away satisfied. Think about it.