Faith is the way of God, fear is the way of man

We have learned to fear so much in our lives. We are afraid of God, of the future, of the unknown, of what happens if we don’t do such and such. We are even afraid of the messages God delivers to us in dreams and visions. And fear makes us do crazy things, in the pejorative sense. Fear makes us over-protect our children. It makes us distrust our spouses. It makes us stress ourselves out at work, trying to overcompensate for fear of losing our jobs. Fear prevents us from speaking to people and from going to certain places. 

Fear even prevents us from being our authentic selves. I am gay and I love BDSM and kink. Fear would prevent me from acknowledging that to the world because of how narrow-minded and judgemental the world has proven itself to be. There are many, many gay people who are afraid of coming out of the closet because they don’t want to be ostracized by their family or religious community. On the flip side, fear causes families and religious communities to ostracize their queer members because they think that if they welcome them, God will be angry with them.

But God is not the God of fear. THEY have “not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” So, how is it that we fear so much, and it has literally become our way of life? We rarely do anything without fear. But fear taxes us so much. It causes undue stress. It makes us age so much faster. It breaks down our bodies and causes aches where we should not have them. Fear wracks our minds and destroys our sanity. Fear has replaced what God gave us from the beginning… and that is faith. Everyone is born with faith, apparently, we just choose not to use it. And honestly, we don’t even choose at this point, it just becomes so ingrained in us that we'd rather fear than have faith.

FAITH, however, created worlds and universes. It heals the mind and brings back to life those things which were dead. It brings sight to the blind and peace to the brokenhearted. But it does so much more than that. Faith gives you the power to create your own destiny. It lets you choose your success and determine what that looks like. It teaches you to live knowing that ALL things will work out. Faith causes you to get that job that you have always desired, or meet that person that you’ve always desired to meet. Faith also strengthens your resolve when a tough time is inevitable. When you have faith and you have to go through something difficult, you can confidently ask God what you will and God will lighten your burden or help you through it. Faith is knowing that at the end of it all, you will be victorious! “And now these three remain: Faith, hope and love…” These three things are what the entire Bible is based on. Faith, hope, and love.

Fear has been taught to us, but faith can be learned. Faith can soon (soon is relative) be your main method of operation. Faith will connect you to God and the benevolent unknown. Faith will allow you to lie down in peace, and rise up in strength. Take back faith and let go of fear. Faith is your strength, fear is a weakness. “For we walk by faith, not by sight."