In Faith or Fear

Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”

But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. (Matthew 8:25-26)

I used to have a little nephew (of course, now he is grown). When he was a little baby, I would gently toss him a little in the air. The first time, he started crying a lot, probably out of fear. On the second round, he started giggling, and soon after that, he would laugh hilariously. He enjoyed a lot. When I would be engrossed in some work in my room, he would come searching for me and then indicate in his baby language to play with him by tossing him into the air.

My little nephew began to understand who I truly am and my intentions when he stopped allowing fear and started trusting me. The same is what happens in our lives. As Christians, we understand that God is our father, but we have this ‘abstract belief’ that there is nothing men cannot do. However, when faced with real-life situations, we allow fear and panic to take over us. This hinders us from seeing the beauty God is trying to work out through every situation we are in.

There is always a relationship between fear and doubt, and they both lead to one another. A man that doubts will be fearful, and a fearful man will doubt!

The Bible says, “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:15). Did you see that? God has not in any way designed us to exhibit fear and quake during trying times, but rather, He puts His Spirit in us so that our faith in Him might help us understand that we have now been adopted into God’s family.

This then should be a domino effect that would lead us to cry in total dependency on His power and capabilities: Abba, Father. Faith and fear should not co-exist in a Christian’s life at the same time. We are supposed to trust in God with full dependency and have faith in Him to help us through whatever it is life has brought us to. We must know through faith that: If God has brought us to it, He will bring us through it.

Finally, Christ said in Mark 4:40 that “… why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” Fear is the only thing that banishes faith in the life of a Christian. Today decide to follow God in perfect trust and surrender, do not allow fear to stop you from having faith in God’s words and His promises.

Father God, help me to trust You irrespective of what situation I am in. Whenever the devil gives me reasons to fear, remind me that I am Yours and that my faith might be stronger in you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.