I have heard people say that fear is the opposite of faith and probably agreed with them in principle; but recently I have been forced to face the music and ask myself…can I be afraid, and yet still have faith? Can fear and faith co-exist? So I’m asking…is it possible to have faith and yet feel fear? Here are my two or three cents, offer your thoughts if you please!
I have been reading some things lately that put it this way; “the opposite of faith is doubt.” I’m sure everyone has good reason to think in this manner, and until recently I never recognized a separation from faith in God and faith in Him doing what I think He should do! Or my faith in Him to work everything out the way I think it ought to go. So over the past few months, I began to embrace some ideas that were foreign to me; but they have caused more growth in my life with God than ever before!
An English monk said it this way, "The opposite of faith isn't doubt. The opposite of faith is certainty.”
So I have been on a journey to seek out what certainty, faith, doubt, and fear mean to you and me today in 2008! I think people often confuse certainty with faith. Let me say it this way…when you're absolutely certain, faith has left the building! When you live in certainty…you have nothing to learn. In certainty there's no mystery, no risk, no excitement, no reward, and no real joy.
The appearance of certainty can be dangerous in a life of faith. Certainty can be used as a mask; a mask for our fears, a mask for our doubts, and a mask for our pain! I have seen people hide their fears and doubts in a faith that says, “if you don’t believe God can do anything, He won’t, He can’t!” Is this the way God works? Does He only do the things we think He can do? Is God limited by my ability to believe that He can? Does God only exist, because I think He does? Think about this, and write what your thinking J
2007 was a very tough year for Shanda & me. We finally got pregnant after 2 years of trying and a miscarriage only to find out the baby had a heart condition that would kill him without open-heart surgeryL So we opted for the surgery in hopes that Micah would have the chance at a normal life after completing the 3 surgery process! After the first surgery (The Norwood) Micah was doing well one day, then out of nowhere he got a virus and his heart couldn’t fight it off, and it ended his life. Micah was gone and we had no idea what to do! Our lives had been forever changed.
What a blow! As a family we still experience the effects of this life- changing event. I’m glad to say that through it all we have come to know and understand God in a way we never dreamed possible…even if we don’t understand everything that happens to us, we have grown to know Him more! Even Myles understands that Jesus never let us go through this entire situation and we have grown to love God even more through it all! The other night while we were in bed praying, Myles asked to pray first, and he said, “dear God, please make everything with the baby go good, and the baby will be good, and even if it’s not, we love you anyway, AMEN!” (Oh, by the way we are pregnant again, but that is another blog coming soon!) Myles has never been coached by me or Shanda to say this or think this way, he has obviously been hearing us talk this through with others and thinking this through himself, because we were floored when it came out of his little 5 year old heart…Myles actually gets it, he is living through this with us, and he gets it…WOW! God is amazing.
Anyway, Shanda and I looked at each other with tears in our eyes, so proud that Myles really understood what was going on, and more importantly understood that we love Jesus, no matter what happens in this life…no matter what things look like or how we feel… Jesus is our answer! Thank you God! At that moment I could hear Jesus telling Peter,
"You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being.”(Matt 16:17 NLT) God is speaking folks…even to the hearts of young boys in Mobile Alabama!
So back to fear vs. faith. This new pregnancy (about 15 weeks) has caused me to question; even suppress the joy I feel, and the excitement I want to have! The fear is holding me back from really being “in the moment” during these first months of pregnancy. My mind races often with questions…what will happen, what will the outcome be; will this be another year of heart-ache and pain for us, and will I have to watch my wife and son mourn the loss of another brother or sister? This fear grips me sometimes and I wonder; Am I without faith? Am I not trusting Jesus? Or worse; if my fears become the facts, will this change who God is to me and my family?
Then I think of what Myles prayed, and it occurs to me, that if we had ALL the answer to what happened to Micah and all of the whys were crystal clear for the Simoncini family…faith is no longer required of us. If we have all of the answers, then faith is not important…faith is a non-issue. Faith is the absence of having all the facts, isn’t it? The substance of our hopes, and the evidence of that which we can’t see!
Faith is not exactly…normal; the bible tells us it’s a gift from God and without it, we can’t please Him. Maybe this statement is more about us NEEDING all of the answers. Maybe God is saying if you knew everything you would be God, and if you are God then did you accept the original invitation of the accuser to Adam in the garden? (Gen 3). Maybe God is saying that it is impossible to please Him without faith, because if we insist to know all of the answers before we trust…then we are actually in SIN. In other words, if you need all of the answers to take away your fears, then you may be in sin, and more importantly you may be fooling yourself that all of the answers are available to you!
Most people who propose that fear is the opposite of faith point to Mark 4:35-41 when Jesus is in the bottom of the boat, and the disciples fearing for their lives, wake Jesus and ask him if he even cares that they are all about to die!!!! Jesus reply to them is sheer brilliance! Verse 40. "Why are you so afraid? Do you STILL have no faith?"
I believe that Jesus was not trying to give them a lesson in faith and fear as opposites. I don’t think Jesus was telling them, if they had enough faith, they would be able to speak to the storm themselves, if you had enough faith you would be without fear! I believe Jesus was trying to get them to understand that He was there with them, all along. The storm was raging, and Jesus was with them, period! He was “along for the ride”…so to speak! I see Jesus telling His disciples that in their fear, and in their worse moments in life with death is at their door…Jesus is there! I think Jesus was saying, I have not let you or your ancestors out of my grip so far…why would I start now! And Jesus idea of being there is different than you might think…it’s not to always to take away the fear, the death, the pain, or the sorrow; but to comfort and bring peace in the MIDST of the storm, peace and comfort in the fight, peace and comfort in the fear! In this way, Fear gives way to the spirit of God and we can walk in peace, even when things don’t look so good! Think about it…with Him in the boat, death was not going to be so bad; Jesus is at their side and never ever letting them go, because as Paul said, “38 I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can't, and life can't. The angels can't, and the demons can't. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can't keep God's love away. 39 Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”(Rom 8:38-39)
Jesus wanted His disciples to understand that no matter what happens, they will never be alone, even if the boat tipped over, causing all of them to perish; He was with them through it all…and this is the faith he wanted them to have. Not the faith that says we can speak to the mountains and they MUST move; or the faith that says we can speak to the storms of life ourselves, and they HAVE to stop…but the kind of faith that says, in this storm, in this fear, in this life…Jesus IS with me, and if Jesus is with me, then who can be against me! God can and does heal; God can and does deliver, God can and does move mountains…BUT if the storm, mountain, fear, sickness, or disease remains God is still with you and me holding us up and nothing can take us form His hand! God’s love is so grand, his glory is so amazing and magnificent, that nothing can separate us from Him…not even a little fear I have when I see life in its darkest moments repeating itself!
May you learn to see God is with you always, and know that nothing can separate you from His love. In the days of plenty, and the days of famine; in your days of pleasure, and your days of misery; in your days of success and in the days of failure, God Will Never Let You Go! May we learn to see that nothing can separate us from God, He is love. May you come to understand that when He feels so far away, this is a lie of the enemy, because Jesus is in the boat with you; in the midst of your storm, He will never leave you or forsake you. And may we come to understand that faith is not about having all the answers to this life. Faith is about trusting in THE ANSWER! Jesus help us grow comfortable with not knowing or having all of the answers, and let our faith takeover and bring peace in the assurance that we know the ONE who does in fact have all the answers!
