“Faith Over Fear”

Faith over fear.

It’s on t-shirts, mugs, wall art, stickers, and a common slogan we throw around as Christians. 

And if you’re a Christian who suffers from anxiety, well, I’m betting that you’ve heard it before as well. 

The Bible talks about fear a lot, hundreds of times in fact. God is constantly telling us to “fear not,” and yet, it’s still something we grapple with from time to time. Whether you have anxiety or not, seasons of fear or certain situations in our lives bring about fear. 

2 Timothy 1:7 tells us, “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control,” so we know that God does not want us to be fearful. But there is something about that saying, “faith over fear” that points to the idea that if you are afraid, that means you don’t have faith. 

And when you have anxiety and are full of faith, like me, you know that your fear is what fuels your faith. 

If it wasn’t for my fear, I wouldn’t have turned to Jesus. 

If it wasn’t for my fear, I wouldn’t pray so hard. 

If it wasn’t for my fear, I wouldn’t need those hundreds of verses found in the Bible that can address my fear. 

God doesn’t want us to live in fear, yes, that is true. But He knows that it is an emotion that we possess as humans. It’s a biological reaction, in some cases, to our circumstances when our adrenaline has to take over our bodies in a moment of crisis. It’s something that our bodies possess and it’s something that Satan uses to test us. 

But sometimes that fear is what makes our faith stronger. 

When you’re going through a medical crisis and you’re unsure what the diagnosis will be or if you’ll be told that your time is limited on this earth. 

When you have a child who has an illness or cancer and you’re afraid that you’ll have to experience this world without them. 

When you’re going through a financial hardship and you’re unsure how you’re going to feed your family. 

That’s when that fear is used to point you back to Him.

Psalm 56:3 reads, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.” This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible because it’s not telling me not to be afraid, but that when I am afraid, to put my trust in Him. 

Fear doesn’t have to mean that you don’t have faith, but it does mean that when fear comes knocking, you have a God who will see you through it . . . 

And to put your trust in Him.