Don’t default to fear. Live by faith.

2 min read

Bryce has been struggling with heavy anxiety recently. With all the tension in the world plus his usual personal struggles, he’s feeling super stressed. Bryce wants to trust God, but it’s hard.

It’s like there’s an ongoiong conversation between faith and fear in his head. It sounds something like this:

Faith: “God is good and I’m going to trust Him.”

Fear: “But what are you going to do if  ___________ happens?”

Faith: “No need to worry about that. My future is in God’s hands.”

Fear: “Are you sure? Because that would be really bad.”

Faith: “The Lord is with me and He is for me. I will be fine.”

Fear: “But what if God is not paying attention to you? Or what if he is mad at you?“

Faith: “If I were God, I would be mad at me. But I’m not God. He says He loves me unconditionally. I don’t completely understand that, but I don’t have to understand it for it to be true.”

Fear: “I’ll be back later.”

It’s a back and forth conversation that seems to never end. Some days faith is louder and more convincing than fear but on other days it is fear, with its subtle jabs and doubt-ridden questions, that prevails.

It’s like a perpetual game of Rock, Paper, Scissors.

But Bryce is glad to know that it’s not just him who gets caught in the middle of this tussle between faith and fear.

Truth is, even a warrior like David, profiled as “a man after [God’s] own heart,” found himself ping-ponging between faith and fear. There were times his confidence in God was so robust he could slay giants but there were also times when anxiety put a beat-down on him.

In Psalm 56, it’s almost like we can eavesdrop on this shouting match playing out in David’s head. It is faith and fear going at it, but this time faith is winning.

Listen carefully:

³ When I am afraid,
    I put my trust in you.
⁴ In God, whose word I praise,
    in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
    What can flesh do to me?

If fear is beating you up today, you could do no better than to take these inspired words personally. Read them. Read them again. Pray them. Own them. They are yours for the taking.

Friend, faith and fear will never get along. They cannot be in the same space together at the same time. Ever. One of them must go.

So Dear God, please help me today with my ongoing struggle between faith and fear. May Your word be so loud and clear in my heart and the gospel of Jesus so obvious to me that it chases away my fears and gives me the courage to live fully Yours. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.

It’s a new day with God. Run with it.