Imagine what your life would be like if you didn’t have any fears. Would you pray differently? Would you minister to the sick differently? Would you be more confident as you shared your faith with others? Would you pursue that relationship that seems out of reach? If fear was extracted out of your heart, would you make that change in your career to pursue a different dream, one is which you are truly passionate about? How would life be different for you, if you weren’t held back and disabled by fear?

Fear is a trap. It will hold you back from becoming all God want’s you to become and from doing all God wants you to do. Fear will disable you, making you a spiritually handicapped person, restricting your ability to function at full capacity. When you are allowing fear to control you, you will miss out on the freedom that faith produces.

“The fear of people becomes a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord will be set on high” – Proverbs 29:25

Trust in the Lord or faith in God, yields a sense of peace and safety, setting one free to move forward, even against all odds. Faith in God allows you to be “set on high” above the enemies of God. God has indeed raised us up to sit together with Him in heavenly places (see Ephesians 2:6). Being set on high and sitting in heavenly places above all of our enemies is awesome. But, we are not only set on high and raised up to sit in heavenly places above our enemies. We are “seated with Him” in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.

Fear is not always based on truth. Fear is based on your “perception” of truth. Fear’s power comes from your “belief” that someone or something is dangerous and is likely to cause pain, loss or is in someway a threat to you. Whether that perception is true or not, as long as it is your perception, fear is empowered. Fear is a “feeling” of anxiety concerning a “potential” negative outcome. As you focus on what you fear, you feed your fear and starve your faith. What you focus on, you empower.

Faith is always based on truth. God’s word is truth (see John 17:17). Therefore, faith is always based on the reliability of God and His word. “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” – Romans 10:17 Faith is not a feeling but is a confidence of a positive outcome. Faith is an assurance, a conviction of a greater reality than what we are currently experiencing. It is being convinced about things that are not currently revealed to our physical senses.  As you focus on the source of your faith (God and His word), you faith will be fed and your fears will be starved. Again, what you focus on, you empower.

In the midst of a “dangerous and threatening situation” Jesus asked his disciples, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” – Matthew 8:26 He answers his own question immediately after asking it, “You have so little faith”.

You can fear less tomorrow than you do today. You can have greater faith today than you had yesterday. Where fear use to be your “default” reaction, faith can become your automatic reaction.

I encourage you to ask God the following three questions:

1. What is my greatest fear?
2. Why do I have it?
3. How can I overcome it?