Faith Versus Fear…

The concept of faith or belief has been wrestled with for centuries. It’s almost universally known that faith gets the job done. The Olympics would testify to that with some kid winning gold because they actually thought they could. Yet for most people, faith is a real head scratcher. I will sheepishly admit to spending time looking for keys and principles and even magic tricks like The Secret. It’s as if people think deep, deep within their soul there is a golden magic lever and if you can just get to it for a minute you could get all of your problems solved at once. Any believer knows what I’m talking about. Or else we convince ourselves it is a future focused nirvana state that can only be touched upon after many repeated spiritual highs. Seems odd that God who made everything else so perfectly clear would make “believing” Him nebulous and hard to figure out. Especially when believing Him is the crux of every good thing we could ever experience. Somebody keeps moving the target. Someone doesn’t want you to know. Believing isn’t something you have to do like an exercise in getting. You shouldn’t have to keep asking yourself if you are still doing it. Nor can you add layers of belief until all your thin slices add up to a real sandwich. It’s almost like glorifying something that just is, not trying to be. We get it all wrong by forgetting there is more than one player in the game. Instead of continued research in dissecting faith, we need to be brought all the way back to basics. Back to good old Power For Abundant Living. There are two types of belief. There are two choices. And there are always only two choices. The choices are faith and fear. Faith and Fear cannot exist at the same time. When we have faith we have no fear. When we have fear we have no faith. Zero sum. The mystical lever we sought was never a real thing. The question isn’t do you believe? The question is are you afraid? And my friends, those areas of your life where you struggle have some fear blended in there. When you don’t have fear because of your faith your faith is natural and expected and easy. The wrestling match with unmet needs is because of fear. Every moment you spend in fear is a moment you did not spend in faith. It’s not examination of faith. It is a choice. Faith versus fear.

Fear is what is limiting your life. When you are afraid of something, you are actually drawing it closer towards you. You are now believing, in a negative sense, for the bad thing, i.e. whatever it is you are afraid of. You are afraid your need won’t be met and surprise, your need has not been met. It cannot be met because where you have fear you cannot have faith. As long as you are afraid, passively or actively, of anything in your life, that area of your life will continue to bring you the wrong fruit until you figure it out. Fear is the great derailer. It knocks you off the tracks, sometimes for a very long time. You don’t have to concern yourself with, “do I have faith?” You must concern yourself with “what am I afraid of?” So to carry out this American tragedy a step further, not only does your negative belief keep you further from the prize, but it actually results in something called unbelief. Doubt, worry, fear = unbelief. Do you know why you struggle to get your prayers answered? Your fear is resulting in unbelief and your unbelief ends up defeating the promise of God. (at least in that moment) In other words, nothing is going to improve for you until you rid yourself of all that fear. People are afraid to take a damn deep breath! Exhale, oh my God relax. You are not controlling anything you see and all that damnable angst about life is stealing life from you. It is ALL fear ALL around you ALL the time. You have to step out of the cycle. Learn of God. Decide to trust God. Talk to God. Focus on Him and His promises and turn your focus from all that stuff that has been scaring you. You cannot reason with fear, though God knows you have tried. It’s more a decision than a feeling. Once you get rid of your fear, you activate the natural system of trust and peace and blessings because you removed the intruder. Faith is your normal state before fear got inculcated. Have faith.

The problem with fear is it comes in many many disguises like safety, accusation, judgment, conformity. But it is the most basic and persistent killer of life that has ever been. People live their whole life still hiding in the garden from God because of something they did. And, hiding out of? Fear! Faith versus fear is the most foundational lesson of this life. You cannot coexist with fear. Why would you when God is so much bigger, better and whole lot nicer to you? Let God do the heavy lifting while you content yourself with trusting Him. Stop looking for the fear. Stop evaluating, examining, being cautious, adding hyper-vigilance with an outstretched neck ever pursed for danger! Stop trying to do everything right. It’s exhausting. And please, if you catch nothing else tonight, catch this. When your focus turns back to you and what you do and what you don’t do and where you miss it and where you need improvement, stop! That is the calling card of fear seeking entry. We give ourselves a bit too much credit in shaping world events. We are not the most important piece. The important piece is God and from there Faith always wins. Faith versus fear. Faith always wins.

Just some good thoughts…