By Mark Maher
“But the things which proceed out of the mouth come forth out of the heart.” (Matthew 15:18)
Is the voice that’s speaking, is that of your fear or of your faith? I don’t have to remind you that fear does not come from God. “For God has NOT GIVEN us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:7)
“Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.” (Ecclesiastes 11:4) Faith is confident, it does, and soon it’s done. It doesn’t wait for perfection.
When your fear is speaking, your speech is focused on the negatives. You’re focused on all the things that could go wrong. You’re not seeing the gain, the potential, because you’re too focused on what could go astray. Faith doesn’t focus on failure. God reminds us “to live life to the full.” (John 10:10)
His Word doesn’t work if you don’t trust His Word. How do you learn to trust His word? You gain a testimony by doing it. Face your fear and figure out what’s on the other side of it. If you do this enough times, you’ll begin to solidify your faith and gain a testimonial. You’ll be able to look back and know that Christ has always been with you.
It’s easy to complain, and it becomes contagious. It becomes our pattern. Are you speaking complaint, because you do not trust God’s plan. Faith is full of contentment and gratefulness. It doesn’t have time for complaining, because it’s too busy doing, solving and completing. Don’t judge your life by its frame, judge your life by its faith.
Have you ever done something for Christ even though it didn’t make any sense in the natural? Have you ever gone against your instincts to follow what you thought maybe Christ was trying to lead you into? Or does it always have to make sense? When was the last time you did something for Christ and you knew it was a risk? Fear is reluctant to take chances.
Faith tells us to give freely, but our fear will tell us every reason why we should not. The goal is to find out what would happen if you gave abundantly. Have you ever wondered what’s on the other side of all those verses? We want to gain a testimony on what would happen if we went all in.
What would happen if you forgave people like the Bible preaches? Your goal is to gain insight and knowledge. Let’s find out. A little bit of faith. Let’s find out how this affects your heart and how it affects other people. For people to trust you, all they need to see is consistency.
Faith tells us we should love unconditionally, yet our feelings and fear may try to tell us why we shouldn’t. “The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” (Psalm 118:6) We have nothing to fear but fear itself. “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:7)
Fear will tell you that you’re not enough, but faith tells you that “you’re more than a conqueror.” (Romans 8:37) When your fear is speaking, action will probably not follow, you’ll fall into a stance of being reactive, rather than proactive. “A man who fears suffering is already suffering from what he fears.” Michel de Montaigne
Fear is a defensive stance, whereas faith takes to the offensive. With fear you’re predictable, but with faith you’re doing things that are rare like Speaking life into people, initiating faith conversations and stepping into a variety of opportunities for Christ. God provides grace for that which is done for Him.
Faith breaks the mold, it involves risk, it will challenge you, it’s breaking out of the status quo. Fear is always anticipating the worst, rather than putting a high focus on what will go right.
Fear hesitates, it’s self-seeking, easily frustrated, excuses are very prevalent, heart is hardened for others, easily distracted by the world and the worries of this life. Fear is in lock step with anger and bitterness.
The SPIRIT of FAITH has absolutely no excuses. It’s bold, it’s relentless, it’s opportunistic, it’s consistent, and faith gets the job done. You lay it down. Faith means you can name names and it’s more tangible. Faith is in the doing where fear is in the avoiding.
Faith is full of split decisions, (which is why you have to have Christ in your heart so deep, so that you’ll be ready to respond in a moment’s notice). God opportunities are presented to us each day. Get your heart right, soften it, so that you can respond in a seconds notice, because sometimes that’s all you have. Faith is opportunistic.
Faith moves courageously forward. Relationships are to be highly valued and love will override all fears. We speak faith and we speak hope. Fear is for the fickle. It’s for the easily shaken, but Christ calls us to be unshaken.
Stand strong in your faith. You can’t wither or break because God will need you to minister to what you fear and to teach to what you thought you couldn’t overcome. If you are stuck in resentment you won’t be able to help others to your full potential. It will be challenging to see God in your situation if your heart is blocked by bitterness. The fear of disappointing God must supersede all worldly fears. Let your faith speak.
“When I am consumed by my problems-stressed out about my life, my family, and my job-I actually convey the belief that I think the circumstances are more important than God’s command to always rejoice.” Francis Chan
I believe it by faith, it might be different than I anticipated, it may take longer than I’d hope for, but he’ll go above and beyond what I’ve ever asked for.
