Sunday's message dealt with the topic of overcoming fear in order to trust God in our lives and world. So much in today's news feeds our fears, and not our faith. We have to learn how to starve one, and nourish the other.
Feeding our faith, nurturing and nourishing it, is central to discipleship because following Jesus is an experiment in walking by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7). We don't usually have all the answers when he bids us come and go. I like to think that when Proverbs 16:9 says God orders our steps, it means that God predetermines our way without showing us every detail of the path. Walking by faith really means trusting God to direct us with each step we take. We don't need faith just for the last step we took, but for the next one and the next one after that.
This is why Sunday's message was an invitation to do it scared. Surely, "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV) But, if we're honest, there is a certain degree to which fear is real in our lives. The reason why we constantly encourage full surrender to God and seeking of God is because, in many ways, we are afraid to trust God. We are told to "[t]rust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" because trusting the Lord is harder than trusting ourselves. (Proverbs 3:5 NIV) God is invisible and in many ways distant from us. Reading the Bible and praying take time. Fasting is uncomfortable. Giving we would rather receive seems futile. But if we are to live life to the full, we must overcome our fear, lean on God's word and wisdom, and take that next step in the dark, believing that the Lord will guide and guard us along the way.
What are you afraid of? What keeps you from surrendering your way and will to God?
Even better, what do you have to lose if you don't follow Jesus? What life could you have if you took that fantastic journey of faith, starving your fears and feeding hope?
How you answer these questions will make the difference in your future.
Face your fears. Follow Jesus. Faith it before you make it.
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