In the late night quiet of our minds, in the gray place between awake and asleep, how many of us go through some form of emotional and mental back flips? Slowly rolling the events of the day around in our heads. Jesus said “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” And that is “receive” as the Lord knows is healthy for us.

Yet, in our mind we rotate and cycle this way and that like debris tossing around in the edge of the surf. You get the picture. We think, “But what if i don’t believe like i think i do, after all i’ve prayed about things, important things and it appears nothing happened. Just silence.” “What if all this isn’t what i thought. What if i’m not who God says i am? i know Jesus said Trust In God, and i’m pretty sure i’m firm that i do, but…but what if i’m not where i’m supposed to be and i don’t know it?” “What if i’m out of God’s will and He doesn’t tell me and i find out too late that i’ve been completely off base?” “Ohh, what if God has told me and i’m just too deaf to hear and too dumb to understand? i remember that Jesus also said to Have Faith In God. i know i have faith, i’ve seen it, at least most of the time. i do the best i can, but if i’ve got faith like i think i do, why am i no further in life than i am and always struggling? i just don’t get it.” “Why is being a Christian so confusing sometimes? My church preaches that we all sin, all the time, but 1 John says my daddy is the devil if i sin, and if i love Jesus i won’t sin, but they regularly tell me that i do sin, so what if i don’t know Jesus like i think i do and my daddy really is not God at all?” What if, what if, what if, in a constant barrage of doubt and questioning what is supposedly already settled with God.

It seems so much of scripture is like a pendulum, it slams one direction and then slams in the other. Love your neighbor, honor you parents yet in another place we’re told to hate your mother and father, pray for and bless your enemies, do not love the world yet Jesus said for God so love the world, be IN the world but not OF the world. What do you think all that’s about anyway, you know? And don’t be telling me you’ve never thought those things, ‘cause if you wear skin and breath, you certainly have.

i’m Social Porter and this is Outposts, a late night broadcast from the easy flowing, casual banks of the Ockluhwahhah River, where the trees gently lean over the rivers edge, and every evening is pleasant. This is acoustic jazz night, one week late, and Faith vs. Fear is our topic this evening.

Can you relate to any of the previous faith challenging drama in our thinking concerning the back and forth bounce that happens in all believers who struggle with faith and fear at the same time? Confusing isnt’ it? Maybe that’s the point, huh? Hold your place, consider the topic, and i’ll be right back.

One very important true thing is, Fear and faith can not exist together. Fear has a family just like faith has a family. The family of faith has common behaviors like strength, trust, rest, and confidence to name a few; fear’s family of behaviors include disbelief, worry, anxiety, stress, and depression. We don’t have to keep participating in the Chicken Little family, who was too afraid to cross the road. i find it most peculiar how on one hand we agree God loves us and died for us, and then, almost as quickly, we talk ourselves out of the love of God. The family members of fear CAN be replaced with faith, you know. We don’t HAVE to live with them. We CAN move out of the house of fear and into faith’s covering. The house of faith always has an open door to us all, faith always has a room ready for us to come and stay. i don’t want just a visitation, i want a full habitation of faith, and i’ll bet you do to.

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of a sound mind.” Nowadays, i consider a sound mind to be one of my best assets, and let me assure you, i haven’t always had a mind which, in hindsight, was all too sound. If we allow fear to stay lodged in us, it will eventually nibble away at our faith until madness begins to grip us and sends us spinning into the abyss of insanity. i knew a tough guy, and i mean he truly was THAT guy nobody messed with. Even in prison he carried the title of monster. Finally, after many years of drug addiction he checked into an addiction recovery center, and he said one of the most important things he realized was that he was afraid. Once he dealt with his fear and what was driving it, the need for drugs and self-medicating began to ebb away and trusting the Lord became so much easier.

All along, Jesus is with us in our trials, ready to help if we would only call on Him, and persist to call on His name. Persist, persist, persist. How often do we choose to live with a spirit of fear instead of faithfully calling on Jesus? Is it easier somehow? Let me add this thought: if we choose to live WITH fear, eventually, we’ll come into agreement WITH fear, and then, all of fears favorite friends will come to live with us. Oooo! That’s ugly, isn’t it? If you sleep with a dog that has fleas, eventually you’ll get fleas too.

Faith and fear are complete opposites. They cannot reign in the same heart. While fear cowers, faith stands. While fear frets, faith prays. While fear looks within, faith looks to Jesus. Fear despairs, faith hopes.

How do we get more faith then? We can’t go to the store and get more faith. It doesn’t come in sacks, boxes, spray cans, and we can’t go to WalMart and by instant “just add water” faith. i believe a good definition for faith is trust training. Could it be our root problem is fear which dismantles faith starting with the little things? Romans 12:3 “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.”  We cannot, by our own effort or willpower, drum up more faith, somehow, to become more effective. God gives gifts to his church, and among those gifts, He gives faith and power as he wills. Is the statement “you don’t have enough faith”, or, “If you’re poor, sick, or sad it’s your own fault because you don’t have enough faith.”, is that saying God’s gift to each of us is insufficient? There is never a time anything of the Lord is in anyway, ever insufficient. Ever.

What is our greatest position of increase and strength, offsetting the fears that seem to easily accompany living this life?

Here’s four points:

• Our greatest strength is coming into the likeness of the Son.
• Our greatest increase in faith is learning to participate with God.
• Our greatest increase in belief is by learning endurance through the
• testing of our faith.
• Our greatest character is when our endurance is fully developed.

 

James 1:2-4 “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  But let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

i’ll say it again: Faith and fear cannot exist together, they are incompatible and are to never be mingled. Psalm 106:35 warns against mingling with pagan nations which leads to idolatry. The word “mixed” or “mingled” in that verse underscores the need for distinct boundaries —spiritual, moral, or physical in order to preserve holiness and avoid compromising faith with worldly influences or falsehoods. i think many of us are in far more of a daily battle in our head and heart largely because we are a mix of faith and fear.

Faith, a noun is described in Hebrews 11:1 in some translations as being “certain of what we do not see”. It is a certainty, but i believe is better than that. It is translated as “substance” in King James and in Greek it is the support upon which we stand. Having faith also signifies that those with faith own the deed to the ground upon which they stand, meaning by the blood of Jesus we have a blood bought right to stand there. Belief means to “stand firm, to be certain and unmoveable”, with “unmoveable” or faithfulness as one of the Fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5. Faith is the noun and belief is the action verb derivative of faith. Faith is where we stand and belief is what we do while we’re standing there. i find in myself that i have an absolute belief that God is constantly working behind the scenes in every area of my life, even when there is no tangible evidence to support that. Faith says “Though i see no tangible evidence, i will stand firm on the word of God”, and belief says, “I am sure of His working, and actively stand firm on His faithfulness to work righteousness in my life.”  Stand firm and do not be moved.

On the other hand, fear, simply stated, is unbelief, weak belief, or being put to flight. There is right fear, like fear of driving too fast on a curvy road lest we wreck and are injured, but fear that is irrational and has no substance. As unbelief gains the upper hand in our thoughts, fear takes hold of our emotions, nibbling and eating at the edges of our faith. Our deliverance from fear and worry is based on faith, which is the very opposite of unbelief. Let us understand that faith is not something we can produce in ourselves and is exclusively in the domain of the workings of God.

Ephesians 2:8-9, “Faith is a gift, For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Faith is a fruit of the Spirit and is one of our distinctive qualities or traits, which is produced in our lives by the Holy Spirit according to Galatians 5:22. It’s a character thing. The believer’s faith is a confident assurance in God who loves us, who knows our thoughts, and cares about our deepest needs. That very same faith continues to grow as we study the Bible and learn the attributes of His amazing character. The more we learn about God, the more we can see Him working in our lives and the stronger our faith grows.

A growing faith is what we should desire and what God is looking to produce in us.

Another point of greatest increase is when our desires and God’s desires come into alignment. But how, in day-to-day life, can we develop a faith that conquers our fears? Well, for sure our fears are not overcome by becoming indifferent. Indifference doesn’t cause strangling anxious concern to subside, it just puts it off, hides it, and gives fear a chance to morph into something else to cut our feet from under us. Put your finger, specifically, on what it is which grips you so tightly and causes you to be afraid. Name it. An un-named fear always looks like looming doom.

The Bible says in Romans 10:17, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God“.

The careful study of God’s Word is of primary importance in developing a strong faith. God wants us to know Him and completely rely on His direction in our lives. It’s through the hearing, reading and meditation in the Scriptures that we begin to experience a strong, confident faith which excludes worry and fear. In Matthew, four times Jesus distinctly said, “Don’t worry”.

Spending time in prayer and worship develops a relationship with our Father that sees us through even the darkest of nights. Prayer is more than merely going down a wish list of stuff we would like. You may say that is such a cliche sounding thing to say, but, i’m tellin’ ya’, it’s the truth, and often don’t realize the magnitude and value of prayer until we’re in the dark, alone, and in trouble. Train yourself to have an everyday, walk-around conversation with God like friends going together, growing in belonging, connecting. In the Psalms we see a picture of David, who, like us, experienced times of fear. Psalm 56:3 reveals his faith with these words: “When I am afraid, I will trust in you.” Trust training. i’m reminded of an old song with some of the lyrics being, “When the darkness is closing in, and i’m running against the wind, i will trust in You and i will not be afraid.” Psalm 119 is filled with verses expressing the way in which David treasured God’s Word: “I seek you with all my heart” (v. 10); “I have hidden your word in my heart” (v. 11); “I meditate on your precepts” (v. 15);.

These are revealing words, unveiling-the-truth kind of words which speak wisdom to us even now. The following words are key to developing faith,  “I seek you”, “I meditate on your word”, “I trust in You”, and “I will not be afraid”.
God is kind and understanding toward our weaknesses, but He does truly desire us to go forward in faith. If you will try God will meet you in your going. He doesn’t have a problem with people who fail, but He does have a problem with people who don’t try.

The Bible is clear that faith does not mature and strengthen without trials, and, as much as we are uncomfortable with it, as much as i don’t like it and have at times closed my ears to not hear this, adversity is God’s most effective tool to develop a strong faith. That pattern is repetitively evident in Scripture. Trust training is one of the main reasons for trails that God is who He says He is and is not as difficult to know as many may think. God takes each one of us through fearful situations, and as we learn to obey God’s Word and allow it to saturate our thoughts, we find each trial becomes a stepping stone to a stronger and deeper faith. Each trial is like a step and we can either step up or stumble down, but in the end, each trial gives us that ability to say, “He sustained me yesterday, He’ll carry me through today, and He’ll uphold me tomorrow!” i believe at the core of our fears and overwhelming anxieties, is unbelief and lack of trust in God.

One time i had a dream and in the dream i was in a little dingy of a boat somewhere far out at sea, and i was riding the impossible high waves of the storm of the century. The sky was black, the wind was howling, and the rain, ohhhh, the sideways stinging rain was whipping my face. i looked up at the impossible angry waves of the sea and was gripped with fear. Then i looked across from me and there sitting on the other side of the boat, hair stuck to His face, gripping the boat, soaking wet was Jesus. He looked at me with a broad confident smile and said over the roar of the storm, “pretty cool, huh?” It was a faith building dream. Trust training.

In 1 Samuel 17:37, when David volunteered to fight against Goliath, he said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine“. That is faith! David knew that God who had sustained him through dangerous situations in the past, would sustain him in, what appeared to the rest of Israel’s army, as a completely terrifying situation. From the perspective of other soldiers, they were all going to die under the blazing sun of the battle field. But David knew the providence and strength of the Lord. He had seen and experienced God’s power and protection in his life, and that had developed within him a fearless faith.

The Word of God is filled with promises for us to take hold of and claim for ourselves. When we face financial trouble, Philippians 4:19 is a faith builder, “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” If we are anxious about a future decision, Psalm 32:8 is a faith builder, the Lord says “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with my eye.” In sickness faithfully remember Romans 5:3, “Tribulation works patience.” If someone murmurs against us and slanders us remember Romans 8:31, “If God is for us who can be against us!”

i think it worthy of being said that just because we recite those scriptures to ourselves doesn’t mean they are like magic words which will somehow change the intrusion of vicious circumstances. The Lord gives us those words for us to be able to stand strong in the midst of the storm, something to grip to when the ground spins under our feet. Make no mistake, storms will come, oh yes they will, and the Lord does indeed command the storms of our life to dissipate, but by far and large His intent is for us to trust in Him as overcomers, to stand strong in faith as a lighthouse for others who are also in a terrible storm.

Throughout life we will always face various trials that would cause us fear, but God assures us that we can know faith and peace through every situation. Jesus said, in John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Think about it.

Colossians 1:11 “…being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may, joyfully, have great endurance and patience.”

Philippians 4:7, “ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” The Lord has promised His peace will “guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus“.

i’m Social Porter and this program has been brought to you by Living In His Name Ministries, Area 22 Guitars, Leona’s Dress Shop, the Mebane Freedom League, Mrs. Elsie Freeman at Superior Laundry, Florence Drake, John Deaver of Deaver Cab Company, world famous Paul Powers, and, of course, the consistent and enduring, Trinity Bakers, where there’s always something good in the oven.

What fears nibble at the edges of your faith? We all have little fears here and there, but we don’t have to allow them to manage and direct our lives, much less dictate to our faith. Think about what you spend your time thinking about. Focus on Jesus instead of all the should have’s, could have’s, might have’s, and didn’t. Lean more towards willingly participating with God, read your Bible and think about it. Let’s build the bridges of faith over the fears of this world. Amen? Yea, that’s right.