Faith vs. Fear
“Fill your mind with faith and in due course the
accumulation
of faith will crowd out fear.” ~Norman Vincent Peale
Many
years ago I saw a sign on a church billboard that said:
Fear knocked.
Faith answered.
No one was there.
I
have never forgotten that saying!
Faith and fear cannot co-exist!
If we answer our fears with faith, then the fear ceases to exist. When we are experiencing fear, we know
that our faith is lacking in that area.
When
I was first learning about faith, I had a hard time comprehending and defining
what faith was. But I understood
fear. I knew exactly what fear
felt like! So I started defining
faith as the absence of fear.
Every time I felt fear come up, I knew that I was lacking faith.
There
is an old, anonymous story that I love:
One evening, an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that
goes on inside people.
He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us
all.
"One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret,
greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride,
superiority, and ego.
"The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity,
humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and
faith."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather:
"Which wolf wins?"
The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."
Feed
your faith and your fear will starve to death! To get rid of fear, you must increase your faith… and then
there will be no room for fear!
Fear
leads us to anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity,
guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. In other words, fear feels bad! When we feel bad, we know that we have
misplaced our faith.
On
the other hand, faith leads us to joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility,
kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, and compassion. In other words, faith feels happy! When we are happy, we know that our
faith is in God. When we learn how
to create our own happiness, we can ALWAYS be happy – even when we are in the
middle of difficult challenges! We
know our trust is in God, and because our trust is in God we know that He can
make everything happen for our good.
Think
of a difficult experience you have overcome in your life. Take a few minutes right now and write
down all of the good things that came out of that difficult experience. What did you learn? Who did you meet? Did any friendships get stronger over
the experience? Where you able to
let go of something that was not in your highest good?
Daily Challenge: Every day for 30 days in a row, I want you to say the following out loud at least 10 times each day!!! Be sure to say it cheerfully and enthusiastically! This scripture is found in Philippians 4:13:
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
You've now completed this challenge three days in a row - Be sure to congratulate yourself for a job well done!
You've now completed this challenge three days in a row - Be sure to congratulate yourself for a job well done!
Bonus Challenge: Read this article that tells about a time when I learned about something good coming out of something terrible!
No comments:
Post a Comment