For a long time I thought the opposite of fear was courage. It’s not.
Not long ago I was listening to a radio preacher who pointed out that faith and fear share a common denominator. They both believe strongly in something that hasn’t happened yet. My fear is that if I get stung by a bee, I’ll have another allergic reaction. I have faith that if I get stung by a bee, God will see me through it.
Faith is the opposite of fear. The question is, which is stronger?
Will I let my fear that something might happen rule the day? Or will I rest in my faith that God will use whatever happens for His good (which, in turn, is good for everyone).
Romans 8:28 – “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Yup–faith is clearly the way to go. The problem with faith is that it doesn’t come with an explanatory outline. You know, if you have faith, this will happen (which you won’t like at the time), but I’ll use it in this way.
Oh right. Because it’s FAITH.
Fear, on the other hand, offers a variety of colorful, creative, easy to imagine options. Not to mention a whole raft of people ready to tell you about how the very thing you fear happened to them, their close friend, or someone they used to know. (Tip: When someone is afraid, stories about that very thing happening don’t help.)
All I can think to do is take the thing I’m afraid of and consider how it would look to have faith instead by applying Hebrews 11:1 – “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
Afraid to tackle that delicate issue at work? What do you hope for? You should have confidence in that. What do you not see that would fit with what you know about God’s plan? You should have assurance about that.
And maybe, just maybe, we can flip the coin from the fear side to faith.