This month I have been preaching on the topic of faith. Mainly around what faith is, and what God wants for us in our faith journey. This morning’s message however was on the antithesis of faith, which is fear. When I was preparing for this message I was reflecting on how intuitive this concept is, and yet none of us really think about it at all. How can we be living in faith if we allow fear to have a place in our lives.
What I thought about most is that at times fear has a way of sneaking into our lives. There are times when I start to worry, thinking about this or that, wondering why something is happening or what the outcome of something will be and yet I don’t think about the fact that doing so the manifestation of a struggle with faith. It isn’t intentional by far. I know that God loves me and only wants the best for my family and I; and yet human nature takes over and worry begins.
In my message I talked about King David. He had a life that was filled with reasons to fear.
- King Saul was unable to lead his troops into battle and David, when just a child, defeated Goliath.
- When David was playing his harp for King Saul to sooth his demons, Saul threw a spear at him to try to kill him.
- King Saul tried to kill him when the Prophet Samuel told Saul that God was taking the kingdom from him and putting David in his place.
- His son Absalom attempts to take the kingdom from him
David had plenty of reasons to fear, and no one faults him for those fears; however he didn’t handle his fear well. He, and his wife Michal, used a golden idol to conceal the fact that he had escaped in the middle of the night. He lied to the priests in order to get him and his men fed. He lied to the priests to obtain Goliath’s sword so that he would be armed should he be faced with Saul or his soldiers.
Our faith isn’t invalidated by our fears, fear is a God given reaction to allow us to be safe and survive. Where our problem comes is when our faith is replaced by our fears.
Matthew 11:28-29
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Jesus himself said that we don’t need to worry, he has our back. He never said that he would make our lives perfect, in fact in Matthew 11:29, he says that troubles will come our way. In the same regard he says that his burden is light. He wants what is best for us, so what do we have to fear?
An Ordinary Methodist 