FEAR vs. FAITH

I remember a childhood acronym for FEAR:

F alse

E vidence

A ppearing

R eal

and recently came up with one for FAITH:

F ortifying

A dventures

I n

T rusting

H im

It can be hard to make choices. They put us in a pincher hold sometimes and we feel lost, confused, hard pressed or torn. I desire to make choices based on a faith in God's provision. Yet, too often I have made choices based on fear.

Fear always seems to cause a rush to judgement, it always seems so overwhelming and a reaction to it is often where the decision comes from...Fear of failure, fear of rejections, fear of the future, fear of the unknown, fear of pain or suffering, fear of wrath, fear of hunger, fear of loneliness, fear of what others will think, fear of life. Those rear their ugly heads in so many ways...

Looking at scripture, fear of the Lord is considered the beginning of wisdom. This is a different kind of fear from what most of us base our decisions on.

Fear of the Lord is a REVERENCE of His authority. A RESPECT for that authority. A RESPONSE to that authority. Much the way we Fear Fire. We recognize its power to create or destroy - and we respect that and respond appropriately or deal with the consequences of our own foolishness.

Reverence for the Lord is to be faith based and love motivated. When we make choices based on a relationship we have with Him, on one that knows His heart, trusts Him and relies on Him to provide and protect we will make the right choices, from the right motivations...

Fear is based on our inability to control life and causes us to worry and focus on non-realities, hypothetical irrational possibilities that stand precariously on the smallest statistical possibility.

Faith, also based on our inability to control life causes us to trust and focus on possibilities and promises that have in time past proven true for those whose hearts recognize that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

They have two completely different foundations and outcomes, one is based on the absolute faithfulness of an unchanging and Loving God the other on our poor and desperate attempts to grasp at the wind.

Check out the website www.GraciousVine.com or www.JoannaFruhauf.com