Trust and faith, Fear and Doubt
These are the words that are in my life in abundance right now. I know that they are all part in whole how I’m feeling.
Trust – Defined as: a firm belief or confidence in the honesty, integrity, reliability and justice of another.
Faith – Defined as: unquestioning belief that does not need proof or evidence.
These are commands, a requirement of the Christian; because without them our God wouldn’t even exist- at least in the earthly realm. Because for Him to exist, we need to have faith that He is there, and then we need to trust that He is who He says He is.
I love how these two things, so essential in the daily walk of a Christian, are things that we fight with as much as we do. I know that is because the Enemy knows there won’t be Christians without faith and trust.
How can we who love Jesus say that we have trust issues? Last night while I was at prayer meeting a prayer warrior said that one of the reasons trust is so much on our list of things that God is teaching us is because we have had someone prove to be untrustworthy in our lives, and therefore leaving a gap in our ability to know what it means to trust without hindrance. I believe that she is right on a major level. Who among us hasn’t had someone in our lifetime prove to be untrustworthy?
If that is the case then shouldn’t there be a way that we can work past that and find the healing that we might need in order to trust God with all our hearts and no hindrances? I believe there is.
God has said that “All that call on His name shall be saved” (Rom.10:13)... which requires faith and trust. He also said “That all who come to me weary and with heavy burdens shall find rest” (Matt. 11:29). Another is that if you “Trust in the Lord with all your heart… he will direct your paths” (Prov. 3:5-6) . He said that for “Those who fear his name the Son of righteousness shall rise with healing in his wings and you will go free leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture” (Mal. 4:2).
I know that the God that healed all those people in the Bible didn’t leave them with emotional issues and mental issues when he healed the physical issues. I know that when they went away leaping and rejoicing that they were free from all injury. All pain of any kind was gone when they encountered the living God. So I can only conclude that just as God is able to this day to distribute physical healing he can also give out mental, emotional and spiritual healing to those who seek Him.
If these are indeed things that I know… then why do I have trouble trusting Him and having faith in Him? Maybe because sometimes, it’s not about what I know, but about the weapons the enemy is using- Otherwise known as Fear and Doubt.
Fear- Defined as: a feeling of anxiety and agitation caused by the presence or nearness of danger, evil, pain, etc.
Doubt- Defined as: a wavering of opinion or belief; lack of conviction; uncertainty; lack of trust or confidence.
I don’t find it coincidental that the tools that Satan uses are the very things that interfere with faith and trust. I also know that he is not above using whatever he can to defeat us when we’re down and go after us when we’re up. He is a lousy foe… no fairness can be found in him, and he uses a small measure of truth in order to convince us that there is validity in his accusations. He is sneaky, manipulative, and wrong. And we fall for it all the time.
The Bible describes our enemy Satan as “A roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8) It also tells us that he has fiery arrows, strategies in place to take us down, we are in a battle against him (Eph. 6:11-16), he goes after the footholds (little crevices that don’t seem like much to us, are his breeding ground) (Eph. 4:27) he sets traps (2 Tim. 2:27), and works in and through our enemies (John 13:2).
Of course this is a foe that we would need to watch at every turn. We can’t assume that he would take a break from making us falter in our faith. A slacking and hurting Christian is one of his favorite things. Get to that point and of course he will leave you alone, you aren’t a threat anymore.
This leads us to conclude that if we are following hard after Christ and are doing what God has called us to, the enemy will be hard on our tails to trip us up. Which makes faith and trust all that more important. Do you see how it all works together like that? I do take comfort in the fact that God doesn’t leave us to ourselves in the midst of these struggles. He has promised to never fail us or abandon us (Heb. 13:5) And He has promised that He will never give us more than we can bear (1 Cor. 10:13)
I have found that the promises of God are more faithful and dependable than the threat of the enemy. Only because God is greater. If I falter in my faith and slack in my belief and trust, then guaranteed the enemy is there to help bring me down.
So, yeah, these words have been heavy on my heart and I wonder sometimes about why they are so important. And why when people are talking about what God is doing, they almost always say that God is teaching them to trust… interesting then isn’t it that it generally coincides with an attack from the enemy?
Faith and trust are tools to bring us closer to God and into His loving presence. Fear and doubt are the very tools that Satan uses to break us up.
Trust – Defined as: a firm belief or confidence in the honesty, integrity, reliability and justice of another.
Faith – Defined as: unquestioning belief that does not need proof or evidence.
These are commands, a requirement of the Christian; because without them our God wouldn’t even exist- at least in the earthly realm. Because for Him to exist, we need to have faith that He is there, and then we need to trust that He is who He says He is.
I love how these two things, so essential in the daily walk of a Christian, are things that we fight with as much as we do. I know that is because the Enemy knows there won’t be Christians without faith and trust.
How can we who love Jesus say that we have trust issues? Last night while I was at prayer meeting a prayer warrior said that one of the reasons trust is so much on our list of things that God is teaching us is because we have had someone prove to be untrustworthy in our lives, and therefore leaving a gap in our ability to know what it means to trust without hindrance. I believe that she is right on a major level. Who among us hasn’t had someone in our lifetime prove to be untrustworthy?
If that is the case then shouldn’t there be a way that we can work past that and find the healing that we might need in order to trust God with all our hearts and no hindrances? I believe there is.
God has said that “All that call on His name shall be saved” (Rom.10:13)... which requires faith and trust. He also said “That all who come to me weary and with heavy burdens shall find rest” (Matt. 11:29). Another is that if you “Trust in the Lord with all your heart… he will direct your paths” (Prov. 3:5-6) . He said that for “Those who fear his name the Son of righteousness shall rise with healing in his wings and you will go free leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture” (Mal. 4:2).
I know that the God that healed all those people in the Bible didn’t leave them with emotional issues and mental issues when he healed the physical issues. I know that when they went away leaping and rejoicing that they were free from all injury. All pain of any kind was gone when they encountered the living God. So I can only conclude that just as God is able to this day to distribute physical healing he can also give out mental, emotional and spiritual healing to those who seek Him.
If these are indeed things that I know… then why do I have trouble trusting Him and having faith in Him? Maybe because sometimes, it’s not about what I know, but about the weapons the enemy is using- Otherwise known as Fear and Doubt.
Fear- Defined as: a feeling of anxiety and agitation caused by the presence or nearness of danger, evil, pain, etc.
Doubt- Defined as: a wavering of opinion or belief; lack of conviction; uncertainty; lack of trust or confidence.
I don’t find it coincidental that the tools that Satan uses are the very things that interfere with faith and trust. I also know that he is not above using whatever he can to defeat us when we’re down and go after us when we’re up. He is a lousy foe… no fairness can be found in him, and he uses a small measure of truth in order to convince us that there is validity in his accusations. He is sneaky, manipulative, and wrong. And we fall for it all the time.
The Bible describes our enemy Satan as “A roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8) It also tells us that he has fiery arrows, strategies in place to take us down, we are in a battle against him (Eph. 6:11-16), he goes after the footholds (little crevices that don’t seem like much to us, are his breeding ground) (Eph. 4:27) he sets traps (2 Tim. 2:27), and works in and through our enemies (John 13:2).
Of course this is a foe that we would need to watch at every turn. We can’t assume that he would take a break from making us falter in our faith. A slacking and hurting Christian is one of his favorite things. Get to that point and of course he will leave you alone, you aren’t a threat anymore.
This leads us to conclude that if we are following hard after Christ and are doing what God has called us to, the enemy will be hard on our tails to trip us up. Which makes faith and trust all that more important. Do you see how it all works together like that? I do take comfort in the fact that God doesn’t leave us to ourselves in the midst of these struggles. He has promised to never fail us or abandon us (Heb. 13:5) And He has promised that He will never give us more than we can bear (1 Cor. 10:13)
I have found that the promises of God are more faithful and dependable than the threat of the enemy. Only because God is greater. If I falter in my faith and slack in my belief and trust, then guaranteed the enemy is there to help bring me down.
So, yeah, these words have been heavy on my heart and I wonder sometimes about why they are so important. And why when people are talking about what God is doing, they almost always say that God is teaching them to trust… interesting then isn’t it that it generally coincides with an attack from the enemy?
Faith and trust are tools to bring us closer to God and into His loving presence. Fear and doubt are the very tools that Satan uses to break us up.
M. Ruth Smith
2007
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