Faith Over Fear Remix

Faith over fear.  Easy to say.  Hard to really walk out.  We know how Jairus’s story ended, so we can applaud his faith.  We can tout him as an example of persevering despite the facts presented to him.  Wednesday night’s Refresh Bible study focused on the practical application of Sunday’s sermon.  You know…the walking out of the faith that we have.

But before we get to the walking out of the faith we have, we need to have a real talk.  Sit down.  If you are a super saint, this may knock you off your feet.  We are in a pandemic.  You may be alone when you read this, so I don’t want you to hurt yourself if you do fall.  Ready for the talk to start?  Okay.  Here goes nothing.  We should allow ourselves to really feel our emotions.  I did not say that we should wallow in them.  I said that we should acknowledge that they are there.

When my therapist told me that I was depressed, my immediate thought was “I’m saved.  If I am depressed, then that means that my relationship with God is not what I say it is.”  I could not acknowledge what was right in front of my face.  I struggled with overcoming the issue because I wanted to ignore the reality of my situation.  The entire time he was talking to me, I was formulating rebuttals.  I did not get to a healthy place until I acknowledged that there was work to be done.

Emotions are natural.  They are part of the human experience.  We do a disservice to ourselves and other believers when we make them believe that emotions have no place in our lives.  Emotions can be a catalyst for positive movement.  For instance, the adrenaline surge that we get when we are in danger.  People have been known to lift cars off the body of their loved ones when they are placed in a deadly situation.  There is room for our emotions.  The true battle is feeling our feelings, and at the same time, not allowing our feelings to have dominion over our lives.

Fear, anger, disappointment, and sorrow are not figments of our imaginations.  After we acknowledge our feelings, we must make the choice to follow God WHILE we are still feeling whatever we are feeling.  That is what Jairus did.  As believers, we choose to honor God with our lives in spite of the emotions.  They just come along for the ride.  That means praying to God when it feels like the bottom fell out.  That means studying the word when we’re disappointed.  That means treating people right when they deserve to be cursed out.

Make no mistake about it.  Walking out our faith is not an easy thing.  Especially when we enter seasons where it seems that God is not moving.  When we have times that He does not seem to hear our prayers.  The fear seeps through the cracks of our faith.  In those times, it is helpful to have a community of people that can pray with and for you.  People that can speak great things over your life.  People that remind you that you are not alone.

Yes, fear is a very real part of our lives.  But I know from personal experience that our God is bigger than fear will ever be.  #wepreach