Faith, Risk, Fear

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© December 3, 2010

www.godsbreath.net

Copies of this and other homilies available by sending requests to: mikefarrar@aol.com

 

“There is no faith without riskand there is no risk without fear.”

John Ortberg

 

There is a lot of truth in the statement above. To have faith in God is to put our trust in Him even though circumstances or situations may not seem to indicate we will be safe, provided for or secure. This is the risk we take when we have faith in God. Faith in God requires taking a risk that He will care for us, pull us through a trial, grant us courage, or reduce the length of time we must endure the struggle we are facing. We know God can be trusted for we have read of examples in His Word where He has provided for men and women who trusted in Him during moments of trial. We know He can be trusted because the Bible says so in numerous references. We know He is reliable because we have Christian friends who have survived strenuous tests of faith.

 

Part of the risk involved in having our faith tested is that our will is not always God’s will. While we know God can be trusted and can intervene in the way we would like, we do not know that He will give us specifically what we desire. Faith involves risk, because we desire comfort, resolution and deliverance from a trial, hardship or struggle. It is only natural for us to wish to have what we desire in such situations. Our will is sometimes driven by our flesh at times and at other times just by a natural human desire to be comfortable and happy. This risk we experience as we attempt to have faith in God’s intervention in our lives is what can cause some degree of emotional fear to develop.

 

Can you have faith and be fearful at the same time? Does having fear during a trial mean any faith you might exhibit is worthless and not faith at all?

 

I believe you can have faith and still have some fear. It all depends on how you handle the fear and how much it dominates your life as you seek to have faith in your loving Heavenly Father. 

 

Let me share a few examples from scripture to illustrate this.

 

Hebrews 11:7 gives us an example of faith that coexisted with a fear of future events. It states, “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.”

 

Here we are told God warned Noah about the coming of the flood that would destroy all of mankind. We know from the account in the Old Testament that Noah had great faith in God and was the only one who “walked with God” in an intimate relationship with Him. His faith was steadfast and was proven not only in his behavior but also in his trust in God and in his relationship with Him. But here in Hebrews we are told that despite Noah’s great courageous and consistent faith, he had a holy fear of future events that were to take place. What is holy fear? I believe holy fear is what is manifested when a Christian knows they will face something overwhelmingly difficult, painful or uncomfortable that cannot be avoided, but they have faith that God will be with them and will give them the strength to endure it.

 

Whether it is facing cancer treatments, serious surgery, dealing with constant pain, financial stress, loss of a job, divorce from a spouse, death of a loved one or even an evaluation at work or a test at school, these trials can be faced with faith in God while a holy fear of what will be experienced is felt in a Believer’s heart, mind and soul. This holy fear does not come from lack of faith in God; it comes from anticipating the pain, suffering or trial that is to take place.

 

Can you imagine the thoughts that went through Noah’s mind as he considered how God would destroy every living thing on the earth that was not within the protective ark? To anticipate the destruction of the Lord and His punishment and eradication of evil on the earth must have been a very horrible thing to consider. Noah knew not only the love and compassion of His Heavenly Father, he also knew of His power and might. He knew God was not someone you wanted angry with you for your sin and evil behavior and this is exactly why the general population of the earth at the time was under God’s judgment. We have a summary of what God told Noah about how the flood would take place, but I wonder specifically what kind of descriptive words God used to impress upon Noah the destruction that would take place. This was information that would literally put the fear of God in any human. Noah’s holy fear existed as he constructed the ark and as he anticipated all the horrible events that were yet to take place.

 

So Noah gives us an example that faith and holy fear can exist at the same time as a storm of life engulfs and surrounds a trusting servant of God.

Several good quotes speak of this holy fear that can exist with faith. Abraham Hicks states, “If you knew everything was really all right, and that it has a happy ending, you would not feel trepidations about your future.” He is saying that fear is a natural response to an unknown future in the midst of having trust in God that things will be all right.

Joni Erickson Tada says, “Faith isn't the ability to believe long and far into the misty future. It's simply taking God at His Word and taking the next step.” Joni has demonstrated her faith as she has dealt with her disability and continues to exhibit strong faith with the new storm in her life, her battle with breast cancer. She is an honest servant of God who admits her holy fear as she exhibits faith in her loving Heavenly Father.

Remember as you experience holy fear in the midst of a risky situation while you have faith in God, even childlike faith can focus on God rather than fear. That is the key. Honestly acknowledge the fear you have, don’t deny it, but focus on the God you have faith in, that He will get you through the trial and will empower you to deal with all you have to deal with.

 

In John 12:42-43 we find an example of fear that was inappropriate in faithful believers. This passages states, “Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.”

 

Here we see that during the ministry of Jesus people believed in Jesus, but despite their faith, they made a decision to let their fear override their judgments and actions regarding their testimony of faith. These individuals had a fear of rejection of men who were in power. They had a fear of losing approval of their peers. They had a fear that they would lose the privilege of attending church. So their fear was not holy it was fleshly. Their fear caused them to compromise their faith and their actions were probably a disappointment not only to Jesus but also to the disciples and that is why John was convicted by God to include the comment in the Bible. When we focus on our fears rather than God then fear becomes our false god or idol. We elevate fear and make it more powerful than our Lord. We let fear dethrone the Lord from our life and let our desires for our will sit on that throne of our life as well. This causes the humility we have towards respecting and honoring God to be thrown out the window and we become a victim of our own fear.

 

Without any risk, faith would be weak and valueless. Perfect knowledge of the future would not foster a faith in God for future provision for us because we would be assured that things would turn out in a certain way and no faith in God would be needed. Security in our abilities and ourselves is not conducive to developing faith in God because it encourages independence from God, not dependence on Him. Even when we are extremely confident that God will care and provide for us, there is always an element of risk, because we do not know His plans and will perfectly. Whenever there is risk, there is some degree of fear or concern, but this can also be an opportunity for faith to be manifested.

 

Faith is necessary for us to please God as it states in Hebrews 11:6 so we need to ask for faith from God and seek to nourish it when we are placed in risky situations that cause us to experience fear. We can have a holy fear about what we are facing while at the same time having a strong faith in who God is. Our faith is not to be focused on what we want or the outcome for what we desire, it is to be focused on the Lord who may grant those things or who may choose to lead us down a different path with an alternate resolution.

 

Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Our faith is composed of being sure that God is a good God, that He will care for us, that He will give us courage and strength to endure hardships, that He has our best interests at heart. Our hope is not in always having a comfortable life where all our needs are met and all our infirmities are cured. Our hope is that when this life is over that we will live in Heaven in the presence of the Lord.

 

So when your faith is tested in a situation of risk and you begin to fear, don’t focus on the fear; focus on having faith in God. Understand that you can have a holy fear of what God may allow to come into your life, but be assured the faith and strength He gives you is sufficient to see you through. The Lord will either calm your storm or He will allow it to rage while He calms you. Remember faith in God is the light that can guide you through any darkness. Your job is to take care of the possible things you can handle and trust God will take care of the impossible things that are out of your control.