Driving Under the Influence

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7

In my Bible Study this morning the question arose ‘Can fear and faith co-exist in one person?’ Upon my immediate thought my answer was no – we must choose one. Then I realized upon further contemplation that they absolutely do co-exist with fear getting life from the flesh and faith getting life from the Divine. So the follow up question I ask you this morning is ‘Since fear and faith do co-exist which one masters over you?’

Our behavior, attitudes and interactions within our relationships will expose our master. Fear and faith cannot co-exist in equal proportions – one will reign over the other according to which one we serve. Joanna Weaver writes, ‘Fear babbles. It freaks out. It searches frantically for explanations and solutions. It races around trying to fix things or, at the very least, figure things out. It fusses and fidgets, messes and obsesses. Fear sews together fig leaves to cover our inadequacies and paints bright smiles to hide our tears. It builds makeshift shelters and puts on far too much makeup… For you see, difficulties can’t separate us from God – only fear can. Fear in its purest form is really unbelief, the false conviction that ‘God can’t…God won’t…so I must. Faith, on the other hand, chooses to believe that ‘God can, God wants to, and God will…so I choose to trust Him with my life.’ Having a Mary Spirit, p. 140, 147.

We are under the influence of one which will determine how we drive our spiritual vehicles. Do we weave in and out of our circumstances creating danger and strife? Do we allow the distractions of our fear to cause us to take our eyes off our spiritual highway? When we are pulled over by the Holy Spirit will we be able to walk that spiritual line without stumbling or falling?

Through Christ we can choose faith over fear and peace over pain. One will master over the other creating a life of trust and belief in both God’s ability and faithfulness.

Fear’s frantic voice is much louder than faith’s but faith’s actions speak volumes.