Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…The five words in this title might make up the most challenging proposition that is ever put before us. I suspect all of us have had varying experiences with accepting or rejecting the challenges of fear and trust. In my opinion, the challenge exists on two levels. The first level is being willing to surrender self; the second level involves trusting the source that asks for trust. An example of the first scenario would be when a counselor prescribes a certain pathway for recovery, but you are not really ready to give up your familiarity with certain people, places or things. The second scenario could be a visitor to New York City encountering a slick man on Times Square who offers you a “deal” on a genuine Rolex watch for $29.99. Would you trust him?
Fear is part of our makeup; it’s part of our emotional system. Sometimes it keeps us safe, such as when we reject the temptation to experiment with drugs, and sometimes it keeps us in bondage, such as when we reject change because we fear the unknown. But trust, on the other hand, is not innately a part of us. This is something that has to be earned through experience. In many ways fear and trust are polar opposites.
Now for those of us familiar with the Holy Bible, we know we are called to live by faith. And what is faith? Putting our trust in what we have experienced to be the truth. If it is not experiential faith, it is blind faith, and blind faith in the end won’t sustain us. Hebrews 11: 6 tells us: “It is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must first believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.” 1 John 4:18 reinforces this: “Love (God) has no fear because perfect love (God) casts out fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of judgment, and this shows that his love has not been perfected in us.” In other words, when we come to know God (whose very essence is love) and the truth of his Word, we begin to trust him because love casts out fear. Fear is not part of God’s plan for us. The source of fear is our enemy, satan, who wants to steal our joy by keeping us separated from God.
Faith (trust) is always a challenge unless we know the source of our strength. I mentioned in the previous paragraph the difference between experiential faith and blind faith. Let me clarify this. People can claim anything. They can say, “I believe this…or I believe that”, and perhaps they can quote scriptures in a most impressive way. Blind faith is expressed in words, but when the chips are down, does this professed belief translate into action? (experiential faith) Let’s look at Disciple Peter as an example of both. Here I believe we see a work in progress.
Peter had the courage to step out of the boat. That’s good. So far we’re witnessing experiential faith. But he took the focus off of Jesus and all of a sudden the waves looked bigger than his object of faith. (oops, he’s not quite there yet in terms his development) And again, after telling Jesus he would die for him (Matthew 26:35;70-74), he denied him three times. (still not quite there.) But the real example of Peter’s experiential faith can be found in Acts, 2:14-41. After the Holy Spirit fell on the disciples at Pentacost, Peter, the same Peter that denied Jesus and was absent at the Crucification for fear of what might happen to him, preached the truth of Jesus’ resurrection so boldly that three thousand people were added to the church roster that very day. So what was the source of Peter’s transformation? The Holy Spirit.
Now let’s look at the example of Jarius’ asking Jesus to come to his house to heal his daughter . ”My daughter just died, but you can bring her back to life if you will come and lay your hands upon her.” (Matthew 9:18) Notice Jarius’ experiential faith. He came knowing Jesus could raise his daughter to life. He stepped out in faith. But on the way to his house, he was met by messengers who told him, “Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the Rabi now.” (Mark 5:35) But Jesus’ response to Jarius is the same response he has for all of us today. “Don’t be afraid. Trust me!” (vs.36) Now if we follow this story to completion, we can see the reaction of the unbelievers who were gathered outside the synagogue leader’s house “weeping and wailing”. When Jesus told them the girl was only sleeping, they all laughed at him. Isn’t that the same reaction Jesus gets from unbelievers today? But as you might expect, the story has a happy ending. The daughter was raised to life.
Growing in knowledge of Scripture and intellectually believing that the words are true is essential in our walk with Jesus. But those are just the building blocks for stepping out in faith. At this point we have only created the platform of faith on which we can stand. Next we’re called to put our faith into action just like Peter eventually did, and Jarius did. Perhaps Jarius witnessed some of Jesus miracles? Whatever the source of his strength, he came to Jesus believing He was the source of his daughter’s miracle. That’s what we’re called to do; we’re called to put our faith into action.
But as Christ-followers, we see the transforming power of Jesus at work in our life each day. That’s because we’re seeking it. It isn’t just enough for us to “be”; we’re in the process of “becoming”, which is what we’re called to do. The more we grow in Christ, the stronger we become in our faith. The stronger (more real) our faith, the easier it is to step out in faith. We rely on the Holy Spirit to empower us to become the person God created us to be. We aren’t afraid because our source of strength dispels all fear. We are told in 2 Timothy 1:7: “God didn’t give us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of love, power and a sound mind.” (some translations say self-control.).
Now, I want to end this presentation with a personal experience. I had the privilege of officiating the marriage of my primary care physician three weeks ago. I met a lady at the reception and we had a wonderful “meaty” conversation about faith, our country, and our culture, when all of a sudden she told me about the “celebration of life ceremony” they were planning for her recently deceased father. Then she asked if I would consider speaking at that event. She said, “since it’s a celebration of life, perhaps you can talk about eternal life.” Well, how could I refuse such an offer?
But I have to tell you, Satan didn’t want that to happen. He messed with me from the day I said “yes” until one minute before the ceremony yesterday. It was brutal and he pulled out all the stops: doubt and fear; laryngitis; distorted concentration…I would be going over what I was going to say, and I kept losing my train of thought. “Look at you” he’d say. You’re going to embarrass yourself, Pam and even God. He might cast you out of the kingdom after this!” Now I like speaking and am confident about what I’m doing, but this was getting me down. As soon as I would take authority over one situation, another would pop up. It was like spiritual whack-a-mole!
As soon as we got to the ceremony yesterday, I began to relax. But shortly before it was time for me to speak, I adjourned to the men’s room and asked the Holy Spirit to give me his strength; his courage; his words to speak that would bring honor and glory to God and to the family that invited me. Immediately peace came over me; a sense of confidence swelled up in me; and the five words in the title rang in my head. “Don’t be afraid…trust me”. And true to his promise…He spoke through me that afternoon.
So my final words are…if you’re challenged to step out, I highly recommend stepping out in faith! Why go it alone? You have a force in you that would put Luke Skywalker’s to shame. 🙂
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May God Bless Ya…
Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)
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