An old song has been stuck in my head over the last day, causing great conviction and peace all at once. I often find myself in the throes of these dichotic emotions, so I’m quite comfortable living in such unusual tensions! The song that has been niggling in my brain is “Reckless Faith”, by Rick Cua. While the entire lyric is great, the piece that has lodged itself in my mind is “While others play it safe/ Give me reckless faith”. I love that. What if we all had a healthy dose of reckless faith? What if we were totally unafraid and refused to play it safe?
Fear
Surviving Trials
Life is full of the unexpected. We plan our lives in one direction when out of the blue everything changes. We can’t control every circumstance around us. Our own lack of discipline leaves us open to failures we would have never imagined. Dreams die, hopes are dashed, and everything we once had figured out no longer makes sense. Such is the plight of practically every soul who has ever walked our planet. Somewhere along the line, despite our best intentions, our plans go awry. These are the moments that prove whether or not Christ is truly the Lord of our lives.
Comfort in the Storms
My parents have a German Shepherd named Gabe that is absolutely petrified of thunderstorms. Recently when dog-sitting for them, I found myself cradling him while lying on the floor of a closet. I’ve never seen a dog shake so badly in all my life. The fear is irrational of course. No matter how loud the thunder, it can never injure Gabe. No matter how hard it rains, the water cannot reach into the upstairs closet where Gabe is trying to seek comfort. Even if the winds begin to howl and rattle the house, my arms are wrapped around him, protecting him against whatever will come. Despite all of this Gabe still shakes uncontrollably. It reminded me of how fearful we tend to be despite having the arms of the all powerful God wrapped around us.
Do Not Engage
Recently the faith fellowship I attend was visited by a well-known group of picketers and protesters. What they were protesting no one seems to be quite certain, so perhaps a large group of believers just happened to be a convenient pit stop on their way downtown to picket outside of the Super Bowl. I have been told that this particular group is made up of several lawyers and that one of their specialties is to create encounters over which they can sue the other party. With that in mind, the attendees were told the best way to deal with them was simply to not engage them. Given their history, it seemed like wise advice.
Faith vs. Fear
Faith and fear are the closest of cousins; both deal with our believing things we cannot see. Through faith we possess the power to hope for all that is possible; it allows us to persevere through dark days and tough times. In fear we find a lack of motivation to move; it paralyzes and keeps us trapped in our despair and inner anxiety.
We all live in various states of these two conditions, and usually cling to a little of both. Jesus came to offer His grace to cover our fear and encourage our faith. As His disciples, we need to let go of the things that scare us and take hold of the possibilities afforded to us through the power of Christ. [Read more…] about Faith vs. Fear