Courtney Gilmore We all experience fear, doubt, and worry sometimes. The question of our faith is not whether we feel courageous, confident, and peaceful all the time. No one does! The question is: Do we act on our feelings or on our faith?
Doubt
There was a man whose son had been afflicted with a seizure disorder since he was a child. The man brought his son to Jesus and said:
“If You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!”… Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!” Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, & came out of him.
Mark 9:22-26
Jesus didn’t reprimand the man for his doubt. Instead, He rewarded him for acting on his belief even though he still had some doubts. The man wanted to believe and he asked Jesus to take all his doubt away. Immediately, Jesus fulfilled all the man’s requests. He healed his son completely, removing all doubt in His ability. Forever his son was healed and forever his faith was confirmed!
Worry
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Matthew 6:25-30
When we worry about things that we have no control over instead of looking to the One with all the power, then we are exhibiting a lack of faith.
Fear
Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord.
Psalm 31:24
Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is acting contrary to the fear we feel. When we decide to have courage, the Lord will strengthen us, enabling us to act in faith and not in fear.
Faith
The Israelites’ lack of faith cost them the blessing of the Promised Land. But Joshua and Caleb had a different spirit than the rest of the people. The Israelites had a spirit of fear, but they had a spirit of faith. Because they believed God when He said they would possess the land, they were the only ones among the first generation that received their inheritance.
We too have a different spirit than those who do not know the Lord. This spirit gives us power, enables us to truly love, and gives us the ability to think rationally even when we experience feelings of fear, worry, or doubt.
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7
We do not have to be devoid of these negative feelings or hide them from the Lord. He knows they’re there. Instead, we just need to recognize that our feelings can’t be trusted and act contrary to them when they go against God’s will for us.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart. I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.
Jeremiah 17:9-10
God gives to us according to what we do, not what we feel. If we focus on our feelings, they will be magnified and it will be harder to rise above them. But if we focus on the truth, then our belief will grow and it will strengthen us to act on it. So, focus on what you know to be true and not on what you feel. Our feelings can’t be trusted, but His Word can.
The entirety of Your word is truth.
As for God, His way is perfect. The word of the Lord is proven. He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
Psalm 119:160 & 18:30
God is faithful even when we are not. He is understanding of our weaknesses & He blesses our obedience.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
Hebrews 10:23
Our actions prove our faith, not our feelings. We can feel both fear and faith, but we cannot act on both simultaneously. We must make a choice. It is in that choice that our faith is determined.
What does it profit if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith & I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe-and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works, faith was made perfect?
James 2:14-22
So, place your faith in God & you will have no reason to fear. Don’t sell Him short. Believe He can do all that you ask & more. Read of all His miracles & believe in His power to perform them. Remind yourself of every supernatural thing He’s done in your own life. Focus on these things and let it increase your faith.
When you begin to doubt, ask Him to help your unbelief. If you are afraid, ask Him to increase your courage and strengthen you to rise above your fear. When you start to worry, remind yourself how useless these thoughts are to bring about change & remember you are valuable to the Lord. Only He has the power to provide. Then, after you’ve acknowledged your feelings and brought them to the Lord, move forward in obedience. Act in Faith and not in Fear!
Excerpt from Episode 90 “A Spirit of Fear or Faith” on Podcast and YouTube
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