A lack of faith creates fear.
Not just in the religious, God-fearing sense, but in every circumstance, a lack of faith creates fear.
"But Jesus overheard them and said..., 'Don't be afraid. Just have faith.'"
Mark 5:36
No faith that the unseen environment is safe from harm creates fear of the dark.
No faith that whatever is under us will protect us from falling creates fear of heights.
No faith that the plane will stay airborne and land safely creates fear of flying.
Here's the big one.
No faith that God will treat us with love and care creates fear of trusting God.
But aren't we supposed to fear God?
Yes, but with a healthy fear that looks a lot more like respect and yes, trust.
Think of God like a loving Hallmark or Disney Dad. Except unlike the movies, this perfect loving father NEVER messes up or makes selfish choices or misunderstands. He is totally trustworthy.
In the real world, this perfect Father may not exist - even in the movies. But He does exist in heaven.
God is our perfect, wise, loving Father. He is always faithful and always trustworthy.
We can have FAITH that our perfect Father wants to bless us. We can have FAITH that whatever He keeps away from us would ultimately not be best for us. We can have FAITH that this Father will always love us and protect us from harm.
We wouldn't want to disobey this wonderful Father. Rather than fearing his discipline, we respect him for fear of disappointing him and fear that defying his wisdom would mess up our lives.
And that is FAITH over Fear. We have faith in our Father who loves us without fail.
In response to our faithful Father, we grow in faithfulness to Him. Faithfulness walks hand in hand with gratitude. Because of all He's done for us, we are faithful and grateful to Him.
This Thanksgiving, when we remember all we are grateful for, let's also remember to be faithful to the One who created all we are and provides all we have.
Let's be faithful to His Word, faithful in prayer, and faithful in worship.
Let's be faithful to our spouse, faithful to our families, and faithful to our friends.
Le'ts be faithful to our community, faithful to our nation, and faithful to our world.
In great gratitude for all God has given us, may the fruit of faithfulness grow in us.
"But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!" Galatians 5:22-23
May you enjoy experiencing Faith over Fear in your life today.
God's Blessings,
Dianne
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