I heard from several of you last week who are really struggling with fear in the face of all that’s happening in the world. You are not alone! I think, no, I know that all of us are fighting this at some level. And it is a fight!
Keeping our faith solid and strong is a daily battle. I’m hoping today’s thought help us as we prepare to fight another week!
As I was thinking about this, the Holy Spirit dropped Romans 10:17 into my heart. I’m sure we can all quote this from memory: Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Maybe it would be helpful to look at it in a few different versions:
So faith proceeds from hearing, as we listen to the message about God’s Anointed. (VOICE)
So faith comes from hearing the message. And the message that is heard is the message about Christ. (NIRV)
Faith, then, is birthed in a heart that responds to God’s anointed utterance of the Anointed One. (TPT)
When we look deeply at this verse we see that faith comes from hearing, listening, responding to the message of Jesus. This verse is specifically about the salvation experience, but I think it applies to every area of our spiritual journey!
So then, faith is a response to what we hear. The word/message is what we hear and faith is the outcome. Would you agree?
Ok, let’s apply this same principle to fear. I sense what the Holy Spirit is showing us is that this is the key to getting free from a fear response. Fear comes from what we hear, just like faith does. Fear is birthed in our hearts from the message we listen to and the word we receive.
Wow, is that powerful!! The enemy and the world are intentionally sowing seeds of fear in the same way believers sow seeds of the gospel leading to faith! What we consume or listen to has a significant affect on the outcome we experience, i.e. faith or fear.
God’s heart is not to condemn, blame or shame us. In fact, he is sharing this to set us free and to give us a weapon to fight this daily battle. Remember John 15 says, Apart from me, you can do nothing. Then Ephesians 4:13 says, We can do all things through Christ who empowers us! He wants to help us fight–and WIN–this battle. We are not left unprepared, outnumbered or under-resourced. No, God has given us everything we need to overcome the spirit of fear.
I hope this helps, friends! Please let me know where you are at and how I can be praying for you!