Overcoming Fearਨਮੂਨਾ

FEAR AND FAITH

Fear and faith can seem worlds apart, but they are far more connected than they seem. If we look at the Bible’s definition of faith, we can learn a lot about faith and fear.

Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV): “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

So, faith is when we lay hold of a promise that gives us confidence to respond to what is coming. It is the confident assurance of a promise. We operate in faith every time we order something from Amazon. We trust the promise of the seller, and we confidently pay them money, though we haven’t received anything. We can get excited about our new purchase even though it hasn’t come yet because we are confident in the promise.

Fear, on the other hand, is fundamentally negative faith. Fear is the substance of things worried, the evidence of things unseen. Fear is when we take a negative promise, possibility, or thought and hold on to it. It can grip us with confidence in the problem to the point that our body begins to respond in advance. I talked with a woman about a potential, scary situation and had her break out in a sweat and feel her heart rate climb. There was no present danger, but the conversation about possibly having the hard conversation was already affecting her. Fear became the evidence of what she was worrying about. Fear reaches into the future and lays hold of a negative possibility and robs our present with it.

We receive from God through faith. We release our faith with our mouth. Mark 11:22-24 goes through it, speaking of the power of faith, and tells us we will have what we believe and speak. If our mouth is our tool for activating our faith and fear, then we need to guard what is coming out of our mouths.

Where does faith come from?

Romans 10:17 (NKJV): “So then faith [comes] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.“

If we get faith from filling up on the promises of God, then fear comes from the promises of the enemy - all of his negative reports, all the worries and doubts that get replayed in our head until our heart believes them. They can grow from a thought to a belief, and the belief can lay hold of us with great power. We need to choose to throw out the lies of the enemy. Lay hold of God’s word and God’s promises; let them fill our hearts until they go from an idea to a belief, and let that confident belief produce action in our lives.