Articles
Fear vs. Faith
Do you know someone who tends to worry about everything? Are you this person? Worry and anxiety does not discriminate by age, gender or race. It keeps us awake at night thinking of things that have not even happened yet; different scenarios and how we might handle them. Truth is, 85% of what most of us worry about, never even comes to fruition. Chronic worrying can interfere with appetite, lifestyle habits, relationships and even job performance. Worry and anxiety have become commonplace in our society affecting nearly 40 million Americans. People a great deal of time worrying over many things that are completely out of their hands or control. What does that accomplish? Worrying should be a warning sign that we are lacking in our faith to trust God to handle our situation. In many ways, worry is a control issue. We can take it to the extreme and try to control every facet of our lives when in reality, some things in life are within our ability to handle and some are not. In Matthew 6:27, Jesus asks the question: “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” In actuality, I wonder how many hours worry has shaved off the end of my life? Through God’s power, we can overcome our worry. To overcome worry we must earnestly pray and ask God for help in any and every situation. Philippians 4:6-7 tells us, “Don’t worry about anything”; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and praise him for all that he has done. It boils down to changing the way that we think. When we find ourselves worrying, it becomes an opportunity to stop what we are doing and pray. We need to change and shift our minds from fear-based thinking to faith-based thinking. Then, no matter what happens, we need to trust that God is always in control. For those people that are actively seeking His kingdom, worry keeps us from building our faith in Him. Matthew 6:34 “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” If we know this and believe it as followers of Christ, we need to pray, do what is wise and allow God to work and handle the rest. Are you fear based or faith-based?
