The Choice: Fear or Faith?

Ten Israelite spies lived by sight and moved by fear. Their fear was contagious and soon infected many people. It barred them from entering the land God had promised. Fear affects us in the same way. It disarms us and disables us from achieving victory. It distracts us from reality and distorts the truth we should obey. Fear dismays us even in little things. It disbelieves God and displaces faith in His providence for us.

Fear discounts the availability of God’s help and discourages us all through life. Fear distrusts God’s Word and disperses His truth into the mists of fables and superstitions. Fear disclaims God’s power to work and disgraces God in the eyes of men. Finally, fear disconcerts our entire outlook on life and disqualifies us for service in God’s kingdom. What a disjointed and disquieting way to live!

Two Israelite spies, Joshua and Caleb, believed the facts from God and moved by faith. Their faith was very personal. It gave Joshua and Caleb the privilege to enter the land God had promised. Faith in God can help us in the same way. It envisions God as He is and encounters Him with joy. Faith enables us to move forward at God’s command and ensures our success in Christian living.

Faith environs us with Gods presence and encloses us in His tender care. Faith encompasses us with the assurance of God’s protection and encapsulates us within the hedge of His mercy. Faith endears us to God as beloved children and enacts all God’s promises in our life. Faith endorses God’s work in the world and in our own heart, and it engages us in God’s work as His servants. What an enriching and enjoyable way to live! 

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. - 2 Timothy 1:7

dis- a Latin prefix meaning “apart, asunder, away, utterly”en- a Greek word element meaning “near, at, in, on, within, put into”