Faith And Fear Go Hand In Hand (Psalm 56:3)

Some things in life go hand in hand.  With love comes heart ache, gray hair with age, weeds with flowers and hand prints on the walls with kids.  This so true that we coined a phrase, "We are taking the good with the bad."  Another hand in hand aspect of life is fear with trust.

Faith and fear go hand in hand.  You may have fear without faith or trust, but you will never have trust without the presence of fear.  (What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. Psalms 56:3). Fear occurs when we emotionally respond to the circumstances in our lives.  The circumstances indicate that only bad is about to occur and that we are hopelessly in its path.  It is at these times that we anxiously respond to the circumstances.  In a frantic effort, we try to change our circumstances or perform some action that will lessen their effect.

However it is at this same time that The Lord wants us to cease from our efforts and rest in what he will do for us in light of the circumstances that we face.  When we rest in him, we are trusting.  We rest in him when we cease from our own efforts.  Is this not what you did when you received salvation?  With great effort you tried to perform good works and religious duties to negate the mounding debt of sin that you owed a righteous and holy God.  That was, until you heard and understood about the savior.  Because he paid your complete debt on the cross, he called you to trust or rest in him.  When you rested in him and his finished work completed on the cross, you did so in light of fear, but your trusting brought the results that only God could do.

In this same fashion, we need to look to God for his strength and him to work.  We may be experiencing fear with our trial, but in the midst of it, God wants us to trust in him or in other words to rest assure that he is in control and will work out his divine plan, which is best for us.  Resting in God is never easy, but we are always able to do this.  We cannot escape fear and are not failures as Christians because we fear just as long as we exercise faith in response to our fear.

Remember, faith and fear go hand in hand.