Fear vs. Faith

Faith is a popular biblical topic in the Christian community. Yet we might find that we lack faith at times. And even if we have it, we can still find ourselves needing more of it.  

What is faith? It is certainly trust in God. It’s steadfastness. It’s a surrendering of our will. But it goes beyond that.  

Hebrews 11 records many examples of people who lived lives of great faith. How do we have faith like those men and women?

One major aspect of our walk of faith we don’t discuss very often is the very real human tendency to be afraid.

Why do we have fear?

In our walk to come out of sin, we must not be afraid. God doesn’t lead us to be fearful, but He can allow situations that make us uncomfortable. In part, this helps us learn to truly trust Him, to have faith that He will deliver us from sin and times of trouble — that He will lead us to eternal life and bring us to a place of having no fear. The connection between having no fear and having complete faith in God is a major component of our calling.

If you are in the middle of something difficult and someone says, “Don't be afraid,” does the fear automatically go away? No. Rather, it often gets worse. But God tells us we have no reason to fear in even the most severe of circumstances.  

For example, when trapped between the Egyptians and the Red Sea, Moses told the nation of Israel, “Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD” (Exodus 14:13). That sort of thinking runs counter to our human tendencies when in the midst of trouble. Normally, we might look to run away and get someplace safe.

“Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid,” God told the Israelites through Moses in Deuteronomy 31:6. Moses was then further inspired to tell Joshua to have that same strength and good courage (verses 7-8). God directly told Joshua the same thing in the opening chapter of the book of Joshua. Even God’s appointed leaders can lack strength or courage in a moment of fear.  

What does fear do to us?

Human fear causes us to worry and respond adversely to the unknown. We worry about uncertainty and become overwhelmed. But as Jesus Christ reminds us, worry doesn’t change anything: “Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?” (Matthew 6:27). Trusting in God rests in the certainty that He is in control. We then act accordingly, assured that we are part of the master plan He is working out.  

In 1 Kings 18, we read of the great showdown on Mount Carmel between the prophet Elijah and the 450 prophets of Baal who advised Israel’s King Ahab. Elijah gives them a challenge: Who can consume the offering by fire, the Eternal God or Baal? God shows His power after a short prayer from Elijah.  

Elijah then seizes the opportunity and asks the Israelites whom they are going to serve. They declare that the true God is God, and Elijah tells them to kill the gathered prophets of Baal. Ahab is a weak king influenced into very wrong ways by his pagan wife Jezebel. When she hears about the death of the pagan priests, she swears to kill Elijah.

What does Elijah do? He doesn’t start by praying to God for deliverance. Instead, he reacts out of fear. He runs more than 100 miles, getting not only out of town, but out of the country to Beersheba far to the south (1 Kings 19:3). He thinks the farther away he gets, the better it’s going to be. After this long journey, he sits down under a tree and finally prays. Not that God would strengthen him, not that God would show him what to do, not that God would fight this battle for him. No, instead he prays that he might die. Elijah has given in to fear at this point and has given up.

We find God’s mercy and patience even in these circumstances. In the midst of a trial or great difficulty, we usually are not thinking right. We need perspective. In Elijah’s case, God sends an angel to feed him several times. He then goes on the strength of that food another 40 days and 40 nights down to Mount Horeb—that is, Mount Sinai (1 Kings 19:8). God then asks him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (verse 9).

Elijah probably thought that was a ridiculous question to ask. He essentially says to God, Do you not see what I'm going through here? He’s justifying his fear. God then shows Elijah that he has the wrong perspective on the situation.

In amazing displays of power, God sends a strong wind, an earthquake and a fire. But He then comes to Elijah in a still, small voice, asking once more, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (verse 13).  The question is meant to refocus Elijah and give him the proper perspective. God knew what was going on, but Elijah wasn’t seeing it. All he saw was the trouble in front of him.

From there, God told Elijah to go on to other work He had for him. God showed Elijah His work wasn’t going to be in the powerful things like earthquakes or fires.  It was the still, small voice. God helped Elijah to adjust his perspective and move forward, acting in faith, rather than fear.

Adjusting our own perspective

Human fear often comes from uncertainty. To a degree, that’s understandable. Because we’re human, we focus on the physical—what we can see, feel, taste and so forth. When we don’t have that physical input, it can be very unsettling.  

In Luke 12:4, Christ offered a different perspective:

“I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body . . .” Can you imagine the crowd’s reaction, especially as Jews living under Roman occupation? They must have thought: Are you kidding me? Why would I not fear that?

Christ had a different viewpoint. He went on to explain that if someone kills you, there’s no more that person can do to harm you. We might not find that very comforting. But when you’re dead, you can’t feel pain and there’s no suffering. All your worries are behind you.

Christ shares the proper perspective in verse 5 when He says, “But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell [Gehenna]; yes, I say to you, fear Him!” He is of course speaking of fearing God.

Should we fear God? Yes and no. We should fear what God can do, but not who He is. We don’t need to fear Him out of uncertainty about what He says or asks us to do. However, we should fear the consequences of ignoring those things. God can permanently end our existence. Men can only take our physical lives in the here and now. Understanding this gives us a very different perspective.

Vision for the long run

How do we get to a point of having faith like Elijah? In addition to adjusting our perspective, we have to take the long view of things.

When Jesus prayed to the Father the night before He was killed, He sweated blood. The stress He was under as He submitted Himself was immense. Hebrews 5:7 notes that He prayed “to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear.” Jesus did not fear physical death on the cross or eternal death. He knew He was going to die because He shared the long-term vision of the master plan with His Father.  

He came to offer His sinless life so we could receive the Holy Spirit after repentance and baptism and thus receive the gift of salvation. But notice these prayers were heard because of his godly fear. Young’s Literal Translation puts it this way: “having been heard in respect to that which he feared.” Christ submitted Himself to what He properly feared and honored.

In Acts 7 we see another amazing account of faith over fear when the deacon Stephen is stoned. Stoning would break bones, tear flesh and kill people. These are rocks big enough that they must be heaved, not merely thrown or tossed.  

Stephen goes through Israel’s history and then brings it down to a personal level. His audience is very angry at him, not wanting to hear how they are like their ancestors in resisting God. Kneeling under the pummeling with these rocks by those gathered, he cries out to God, “Do not charge them with this sin” and immediately dies (verse 60).

How does a person go through an event like this and remain at peace? It comes back to having the right vision. If all we think about is the here and now, we tend to focus on how things are not fair, and about all the things we don’t have. This leads to becoming fearful and angry.  

In Hebrews 11:13-15 we read of those who faithfully followed God in the past: “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return.”  We too must have a picture in our minds of something bigger—a better future.

What vision motivates you? All too often, we can get stuck in fear and not know what to do. Life’s challenges may look insurmountable. It may look like we have no options.  

Compare this to the outlook we should have. If we have clear foresight of what God is working out in our lives, then we'll keep in mind that God is in charge and that nothing can prevent Him from accomplishing His purposes. No matter the circumstances, or even what the immediate outcome might be, we can know with confidence that He is working out His plan of salvation. We just need to yield to Him and can do so with His help.  

That’s the vision. Everything in between is simply something necessary to go through to get there. That leads to a much different mindset about life than looking at everything we see now as an insurmountable obstacle.

In Isaiah 12:2, Isaiah writes, “Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; ‘For YAH [a shortened form of the divine name], the LORD, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’”  

Stop to ponder this. Usually, the human reaction when we face a difficult problem is to try to fix it. We then get scared or fearful when we can’t.

Isaiah reminds us that we are to acknowledge who our strength is. It is God. If we trust God to be the strength we need, we can actually relax and have confidence that whatever is going on will ultimately work out for good (Romans 8:28). We can have faith that no matter how long it takes, no matter which way it goes, whatever the outcome is, God is there.

His purpose is being worked out, not just for humanity as a whole, but for us at the individual level. God becomes our salvation, as we do our part. We must repent, be baptized and receive His Spirit, but beyond that, we must remain engaged with Him.  

With His help, in the midst of trials, we can keep moving forward. In Psalm 57:1, David wrote: “Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You.”  

We think we trust God, and we say we trust God, but then suddenly find ourselves faced with something we don’t understand or don’t want to accept. During these times, don’t give up the vision or stop trusting God.  

Faith triumphs over fear

Looking back at the ancient Israelites' example, we can see where they forgot God and ended up in terrible calamities with great fear. Yet in God's mercy, He delivered them. From their example, we are reminded that we can’t only look at what is directly in front of us. We need to look at what God is offering—His big picture for our future.  

Does your vision align with His?  

That’s not to say we won’t, at times, find ourselves being afraid. But we should always remember why the vision is important. The short term will not last forever. God reveals His hand in our lives time and time again. He is our refuge and strength. With Him, our future is secure.  

In Luke 12:32 we read, “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”  

God is not working out His plan for mankind reluctantly. It’s His good pleasure. He desires that we reach His Kingdom. That is His vision.

Whatever we face in life, do not fear, but rather trust God in great faith as we look forward to His Kingdom.