“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you”—Psalm 56:3(ESV).
Does the headline news make you afraid to leave your house? Constantly paying attention to the negative can stop us from living out our faith.
With the constant feed of bad news, some are fearful the end is near. Could it be? Remember, Jesus doesn’t even know. “But no one knows the date and hour when the end will be—not even the angels. No, nor even God’s Son. Only the Father knows” (Matthew 24:36, TLB).
Choosing faith over fear is the only answer. When we choose faith, we are stretched and forced to grow spiritually. In Romans 10:17, Paul says, “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” So how do we build our faith?
First, we must know the Word. In Psalm 119:66, the writer penned these words: “Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I trust your commands.” Knowing God’s Word is our foundation. It’s the beginning of choosing faith over fear. It’s not enough to attend church on Sunday mornings. We must also read, study and memorize His Word, letting it soak into our spirit.
Second, we must obey the Word. James 2:22 puts it this way: “You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.” When we obey God’s Word, we are confident when confronted by fear. The more often we step out in faith in obedience to God’s Word, the more our faith grows in the Lord.
The third step is speaking God’s Word. Deuteronomy 30:14 states, “No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.” Have you ever spoken God’s Word aloud? If you have, you know the power it gives you to let go of fear and of the unknown. There’s just something about repeating Holy Scriptures that propels us forward when we want to give up.
Praying the Word is step four. Hebrews 4:12 says, “The Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword when you speak it in faith!” Some of the best prayers come straight from the Bible. Prayers of great Bible heroes abound as wonderful examples of how to move our faith over a mountain of fear.
Step five is to live the Word. Jesus said in Matthew 4:4, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” As a believer, if you know, obey, speak and pray the Word of God, you will live out your life in faith and not fear.
Pastor Alexander MacLaren once said, “Faith, which is trust, and fear are opposite poles. If a man has the one, he can scarcely have the other in vigorous operation. He that has his trust set upon God does not need to dread anything except the weakening or the paralyzing of that trust.”
Fear or faith—which will you choose?
Dear Carol,
Many thanks to you for that wonderful question about faith and fear,to me i would like to tell you that ,i will stand on faith ,as our lord Jesus Christ want us to have faith on him with all our souls and heart.FAITH is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see ,it’s written in the book of Hebrews 11 v’s 1.
thanks you ,and waiting to hear you soon.
in him
julius ojunga
Thank you, Julius, for taking the time to read and comment on my post. I love Hebrews 11:1. One of my favorite verses. God bless you always.