Faith over Fear
Recently, my pastor delivered a message on having faith in the face of adversity. He used David and Goliath as an example. We know that David was very small in comparison to Goliath, but by putting his faith in God over his fear, he was able to do what everyone else thought was impossible and defeat his enemy, Goliath. (I Samuel 17) Many of us are facing large, seemingly insurmountable obstacles, but with the help of God, we can not only get past those obstacles, but we can come out victorious, stronger than before, and be a testament to others of God’s faithfulness to deliver His Promises.
It’s a very small example of faith ruling over fear, but a couple of years ago, at the end of a long workday, I rolled my crate with my laptop and other important items to my car. I had gotten to the car and realized that I had no car keys! In an attempt not to drag my crate all the way back inside the building and since my office door was really close to the parking lot, I decided to leave the crate in the parking lot beside my car…on the passenger side.
After finding my keys, I released a sigh of relief and proceeded to the car and drove happily home with no other thought of the mishap.
Upon arriving at home, I exited my car and went to the backseat to retrieve my laptop from my crate, but I was met with a big surprise. There was no laptop and no crate. I realized at that point that I’d left everything in the parking lot and never noticed because it was beside the passenger’s backseat door. I had no worries though. I remembered that the parking lot was almost empty when I was leaving, so I knew my crate and its contents would be safe and right where I had left them. So, I made the twenty-minute trip back to work to quickly scoop up my crate so that I could finally get home to rest for the evening.
The monkey wrench in my perfect plan was when I returned to the parking lot to see it completely full of cars! Our school was having a basketball game! Imagine my horror when I went to the spot where I’d parked earlier, and there was no crate in sight. No laptop. Nothing. After frantically searching the parking lot, people started leaving the game, so I asked a few of them as well as some lingering co-workers if they’d seen the crate. No one had seen it, so I started texting the few co-workers whose cars I had seen when I left to see if they’d seen my crate. No one seemed to know the mystery of my crate, and that made my heart sink. I would not only lose my work laptop with very important files on it, but I would lose the travel drive that also had very critical files, along with my bag with personal paperwork. I was beginning to panic, but then I remembered that I hadn’t prayed yet, so I did just that. I asked God to place it heavily on the heart of whoever took my crate to return it. After that prayer, I gained some peace, and I finally went home.
I remember driving home and really feeling like, “Wow, this is one of those times where I actually have to live faith and not just talk it.” I had come to the realization that I had no other choice but to be still and rest in God’s peace and know that everything would be okay. I had to truly believe that my laptop and the other important belongings in my crate would be returned to me. I had to have more faith than fear.
Once home, I prayed some more and had a peaceful night’s sleep. The next day after doing a bit more detective work, my bag was returned to me! A custodian had spotted it outside and put it in a closet for safe-keeping. My prayers had been answered! My faith had worked even though, for a moment, it felt like all had been lost. God had delivered, and I was so grateful!
I’d had faith for a lot more important things before this particular incident, but for some reason, this little situation just stood out to me because I consciously felt the Holy Spirit telling me, “This is when you must truly walk in faith and not fear.” Even though I didn’t know how things would turn out, and I had absolutely no control, I knew God was going to make a way somehow.
Again, this story is a small but significant example of how we have to have faith when things look bad or impossible. We have to be determined to believe that God has His best in store for us and that regardless of what He decides, we’ll be okay. When we operate in fear, we show God that we don’t trust Him and we usually end up making our situation worse by trying to handle it ourselves. If I had gone home and worried all night, I would have wasted a night with no sleep, and all for nothing. Even if my crate hadn’t been returned to me, having a sleepless and worried night would not have brought it back. In retrospect, not once did it cross my mind to even file a police report. I guess God had already programmed my mind to believe that He would return my crate.
Have I always been that full of faith? Absolutely not! I’ve been through, and I’m still going through the growing pains, and I’ve got all the stretch marks related to growing my faith. Even though it is difficult, because we like having control over our lives, trusting God is well worth it.
Currently, I am believing God for some things that seem pretty impossible, but I have faith that He will deliver His Best in each situation. When our faith wavers, and we’re worried and anxious, we have to be intentional about reminding ourselves of all of the awesome things that God has done for us and others. His track record can reassure us that all is well. Even in the middle of chaos. With God in control, we can walk in faith and not fear because He created us and this entire world. With that in mind, if he can create this world, what makes us think He can’t handle our problems?
I’ll leave you with the inspiring words of a song that that helps me to keep things in perspective when fear or worry start to creep in.
“Worrying only makes you feel you can’t win. When you’re feeling down, remember you can pray and don’t worry. Thank Him for the victory. You’ve got the authority in Jesus.”
“Pray and Don’t Worry” by Gi
Let’s keep P.U.S.H.ing!