Can faith and fear live together in the Christian? Yes, yes and yes. Faith and fear are not mutually exclusive. Fear is one of the enemy’s most popular weapons that he uses against us. Worry, anxiety, fear can overwhelm us with a thick shadow of darkness, controlling our every move and decision.
I often hear Christians rebuked when they struggle with fear and faith. Perhaps a challenging circumstance has entered life, a circumstance that could be long-term or with an unclear ending. Since the person is a believer, they pray and ask God’s intervention, and have faith that He will do just that. Yet, all through the day, those circumstances scream, “You will not come out of this! It’s over! This is going to end badly for you! There is no hope it will turn around.” Fear has raised its head.
That believer has both faith and fear operational.
My home is designed with a split bedroom plan. The master bedroom is on one end of the house, and the two guest rooms are on the other end. Between those two guest rooms is a hallway, so one can walk to either room, and one can easily walk back and forth between the two rooms.
Faith and fear are like those two bedrooms, with a hallway in between. Let’s name one of the rooms fear and one of the rooms faith. There are times I find myself in the fear room, and there are times I find myself in the faith room. The question is, “Where will I abide?”
Many years ago, the doctor informed me that it was more likely than not that I had ovarian cancer, and it had spread to nearby lymph nodes. To say we were shocked would be an understatement. Surgery would be done two weeks later, and an oncologist would be present to see how many organs were affected. That was a loooooong two weeks!
Many times during that two weeks, my emotions would draw me into the fear room. It was a dark room. As a believer, I had to make a choice to walk the hallway to the room of faith. Where would my residency be? Could I trust God that He had my life in His hands?
It became an epic battle to take my mind and body out of the room of fear, enter the hallway and walk over to faith. I did that more times than I can count. It was a constant battle of the mind. It was not until the morning of the surgery that I felt a perfect faith that God was in control of the situation. Notice I did not say that God told me how it would turn out, but that God reassured me that I was in His hands.
Every believer must exercise hallway faith. All of us will have situations where the ending is uncertain. Fear will invite you to take up residence in its room. Over and over, you will be faced with the choice of entering the hallway to walk in faith. Do it! No matter how many times fear beckons you to come and dwell in its room, enter the hallway! There is peace in the hallway! There is faith in the hallway! There is God’s will in the situation once we choose to enter the hallway and trust God!
God does not lose faith in you even when you are fearful. Peter left his fishing boat to follow Jesus. Things got tough as the crucifixion neared. Peter had enough faith to leave his boat to follow Jesus, but operated in total fear when confronted about being a disciple. Because of fear, Peter denied our Lord. God did not give up on Peter. Later in the book of Acts, that same man who had been fearful, stood and preached a powerful message, resulting in 3000 salvations. Transformation happens when we enter the hallway of faith. We conquer fear!
What are you facing today that seems overwhelming? Fight for faith. Choosing not to allow fear and anxiety control us is not always easy, and it often comes down to a choice. Enter the hallway today! God will meet you in the hallway, and give you the strength to walk into the room of faith. You are more than a conqueror!
“What time I am afraid, I will trust in You. “ Psalm 56:3
Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. At least that is what the song says! Is it? Yes, it is in many ways. All the laughter, the food, the candlelight, the carols! Decorating the tree, or these days – trees! Wrapping the gifts and listening to the giggles and excitement as children open them.