Fear vs. Faith

Fear-Faith



My fear


What is this fear that binds Christians to its chains of doubt and unwillingness to serve God? What is this darkness that keeps Christians from becoming the strong worrier of God that they are supposed to be?
This fear has bound Christians to a life of mellowness, and weakness. It has kept us from growing closer to God and it has kept us from doing the work He has set for us.

In my own walk with God I was bound to this fear of not taking action on my words. It was a fear that crept in my mind and said, “you stupid fool, how could you ever do that, you’re not strong enough to do that. Who do you think you are? What would everyone think of you?”
The enemy gets into our heads and puts a fear deep into our minds, it takes hold of lives and we give in. We forgo the chance to do wondrous works for our God! We forgo opportunities to tell others about Jesus Christ and we let it slip by because of this little fear.

Back a few months ago, I was sitting in a parking lot at a Barn and Nobles, and I was watching all the people walk by going about their business. I saw this man walk by, he was about twenty, five-nine, skinny, and looked like a real wuss of a guy. I saw this man and God told me to talk to him, to go and tell him about Jesus. Of course this was a huge shock and I didn’t want to get out of my car. But this fight raged on in my head and I knew what to do, but I didn’t do it. I sat in my seat and let that man walk away.
While this was all happening, God showed me a vision of this man and he was a great worrier for the name of the Lord, he told many people about God and brought revival to nations. God showed me this, but I didn’t do my duty. I let him walk away because I was afraid, I had this fear creep in my mind and I let it beat me.

This fear, it is our worst enemy. It creeps upon us in the time when we want to serve God, when we want to do righteousness for His names sake. But we give in and let it keep us from freedom. It is chains that hold us down from life! It is doubt that locks us to emptiness, it brings pain and suffering to our hearts. Why is it that we let this fear control us? Why is it that we give in, and we stop fighting?
Our hope is in what we fear most, our fear is the wall that keeps us from living in freedom. It is a wall that keeps us from God!

While I was at a youth conference called “Sold Out”, I met God in a way that brought me to a scary point. I was on my knees praying to Him and He said, “take action.”
God told me to get off my knees and to go outside and tell someone about Him. When I heard Him say this I was shocked, I was sad and I was in fear. I didn’t want to go, but He said to me, “if you do not take action, then you are a fake. And all that you have claimed to have said, saying, ‘God I love you and I will do anything you want of me.’ All of this will be empty words that mean nothing. If you truly love me then you will obey my words.”
God was telling me that if I did not put aside my fear and do as He required, then all that I had ever written about and talked about would mean nothing. They would be meaningless empty words. I sat on the floor and thought, “Aaron, how seriously do you take your relationship with God? How far will you go? Do you truly believe in what you have preached for so long? How serious do you take your relationship with God?”
I got off my knees and I went outside and did as God required of me. I put away my fear and lived for Jesus Christ.

We can break free! We can get up and say no to our fear! But not without God’s strength, not without His love. We are not slaves to our fear, we can push through. But ask yourself, how serious do you take your relationship with God? Is it something that you have a limit on, something that will only go so far?

This fear keeps us from God, will you push through and trust in Him? Or will you only say things with your mouth and then deny God with your actions?
How serious do you take your relationship with God?
This is a song I wrote in about ten minutes with my friends, it was a time in my life when I wanted to wake up from a slumber. It was a slumber of fear and doubt in Jesus Christ.

My Fear
“Some days it all seems to fade away
Everything you were so afraid to say
Knowing and growing to something
That all comes to nothing
Oh how I miss my innocence, but it’s still too late
For me to say I’m in ignorance
Oh how I hated those times
When life went by in a flash
And never gave me a second chance
And this life faded away every day
All those times when I wish I was dreaming
And having to open my eyes and see the meaning
That my only hope is in what I fear
Will I be cured?
The illusion I gave myself has locked my mind
I never gave myself a chance to unwind
Will I find the cure for my fear?
It all drags me down
I want to get up but this fear pulls me down
Oh why is that my hope is in what I fear most
I must get up and stop being the ghost
I must face my fear
And know that God is always there”


Faith to move a Mountain


"Faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable, and receives the impossible.”
Corrie Ten Boom

“Faith is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted in spite of your changing moods."
C.S. Lewis

In the Bible when God says if we believe we can move mountains, what does that mean? What did He mean when He said that we could mighty things with His power?
Are we too scared to call upon Jesus for such might, are we set in a thinking that only allows us to do so much? Can we do more then we think possible? Have we lost a sense of trust and faith in God that would enable us to do things like moving a mountain?

Another question in meOne for the powers that beIt's got me thrownAnd so I put on my poker faceAnd try to figure it outThis undeniable doubtA common occurrenceFeeling so out of placeGuarded and cynical nowCan't help but wondering howMy heart evolved intoA rock beating inside of meSo I feel such a stoic ordealWhere's that feeling that I don't feelThere was a boy who had the faith to move a mountainAnd like a child he would believe without a reasonWithout a trace he disappeared into the void andI've been searching' for that missing personUnder a lavender moonSo many thoughts consume meWho dimmed that glowing lightThat once burned so bright in meIs this a radical phaseA problematical ageThat keeps me runningFrom all that I used to beIs there a way to returnIs there a way to unlearnThat carnal knowledgeThat's chipping away at my soulI've been gone too longWill I ever find my way homeThere was a boy who had the faith to move a mountainAnd like a child he would believe without a reasonWithout a trace he disappeared into the void andI've been searching' for that missing personHe used to want to try to walk the straight and narrowHe had a fire and he could feel it in the marrowIt's been a long time and I haven't seen him latelybut I've been searching' for that missing person

Michael W. Smith/Missing Person


What is faith? What is this word we say in church and in our prayers? What truly defines this powerful word? It is to put your trust in something unseen, to fall into the arms of someone blindly.
It is unquestioning belief that does not require proof or evidence. Have we forgotten to keep our strength strong and firm? Do we truly have a belief in God that is unwavering and solid? Much of my own teen years I didn’t know what faith was. Not until one day, while I was sitting on a bridge and God told me to jump into the water. He told me to trust in Him and jump in! I was in unbelief and did not do so. Latter that day God told me that this was the type of trust that I would have to put in Him if I wanted to serve Him for all the days of my life.
God does not want weak half-hearted Christians. He wants us to stand away from the world and move mountains! If we truly put our faith in Him without condition, then nations would be changed, revival would break loose, and God would be moving through many people.

We have lost sight of power in God, we have lost sight that He is more powerful then any man. We have lost our child like faith. We are living a life where we believe that we are so weak and that we could never do anything. But God has said that if we will call upon His name in faith then He would do as we ask.
What has happened to us! We no longer have solid faith in God, we have let doubt and fear creep into our minds and hearts. We are afraid to let go of our securities and safe holds. We have lost our trust in the Almighty God!
Abraham in the Old Testament, he was going to sacrifice his son to God because he was required to do so. He put away his doubt and fell into God’s arms. This man had his only son and God told him to kill him. And Abraham said, “God, I will trust You.”

We must find God in a way we have feared for so long. We must put away our fear and go to a new level of faith with Him. We can’t stay in the boat, we have to get out walk to God. If we hold back, then we will never grow to a deeper relationship with Him. We must find our faith!


Faith in uncharted waters.


What did God mean when he said we could move a mountain with faith? Was it literal when he said that we could move a mountain, or is it just an analogy?
In my opinion, I think it goes both ways. One, God said if we called upon His name with faith we could move a mountain. I think He meant that faith has no limits with Him. What he was trying to say was that if we believed He could do supernatural things through us. But I also think He was literal in what He said! I think that men are too afraid to call upon God for supernatural things that seem impossible, they are in doubt when something big comes along. Remember Peter? The guy walked on water! Jesus called him and he stepped off the boat and walked on water. I’m trying to think, what seems harder, walking on water or moving a mountain? Both seem pretty hard to do. But that’s it! We think of it that way, we think this is so hard that it could never be done. But for God moving a mountain is not hard, for crying out load He created the universe! I believe that men are too afraid to call upon God for something great, they are too afraid to “move a mountain.” There are no limits on God’s strength, but it is us who put a limit on it with our fear. How can God use us to do mighty things if we are in doubt?
God once asked me to jump off a little bridge and into the water, I doubted so I did not. God told me that this was the faith I had to have in Him, this was the faith I needed to do great things for His name. I look back and I think, “God asked me to jump into the water, would I have walked on water?” I don’t know what would have happened, but I see that God can’t use me if I hold back and clutch to the bridge. If I truly want Him to use me I have to take a leap of faith and jump onto the water.
What does it mean to have faith to move a mountain? Is it literal? We are too doubtful of God’s strength because we don’t know Him well enough.
Take for example my friend Devin, there is no one on this earth (except God) that I trust more then Devin. I would trust him to the point of death, my faith in him is so immense because…I know him! I’ve spent hours upon hours talking to him about life! The reason we have such a lack of faith in God is because we do not know Him. I found that I didn’t have strong faith in God because I didn’t know Him in an intimate way. When I sat down and talked to God for hours I knew Him, I knew what He was like and what He wanted. I knew Him as my best friend, which in turn brought a strong faith in Him.
I say to all of you who are satisfied with your relationship with God, “go home, just go home and don’t bother claiming to be a Christian.” Go big or go small.
For those who want to desire God, I say this, “don’t cry out to God and say, ‘God put a hunger in my heart for you!’ But say, ‘God I desire You! I hunger for You! I want to know you more, I wont settle down for anything less then intimacy with You!’”
We must desire God, we must know Him! Then we grow to have a faith that will take us into uncharted waters!
What will it take to have a faith to move mountains? It will take a desire to know God, it will take a heart that desires to know God everyday. Don’t be satisfied with what God gave you yesterday, but desire more everyday!

Faith to move a mountain? Go big or go small.