Fear and faith seem to gauge one another. When the fear meter is high the faith meter goes low. Alternately, when faith is strong the power of fear becomes weak. The Apostle Paul mentioned some of the fears that he had. When he came into Corinth for the first time he was alone. He wrote to the Corinthians, “I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling…” 1 Corinthians 2:3 Later, the presence of the Holy Spirit calmed his fears and strengthened his faith,
“…the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.” Acts 18:9-10
Paul also expressed fear for the welfare of others. The Christians in Galatia had abandoned grace for the traditions of religion. Paul wrote, “I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.” Galatians 4:11 His fear was relieved when they again returned to grace with faith in the cross of Jesus rather than their own works. Paul wrote also to the Thessalonians, “…when I could endure it no longer, I also sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter might have tempted you, and our labor would be in vain.” 1 Thessalonians 3:5 Their true faith was the antidote to Paul’s fear for them.
Fear is something that every person deals with. I have only met a couple of people who seemed to be totally fearless. They seemed to me to be foolish, tending to take too many risks. If we could look behind the mask of fearlessness, we would find that even they had fears to drive them. Faith in God; faith in His grace displayed in the cross of Jesus is the secret to conquering our fears. It is the way to function in the face of our fears and to go on despite every misgiving about the future.
Paul showed us by his example that we can endure and thrive in midst of terrible circumstances and frightening possibilities. We simply go on in the will of God and faith in our hearts, confident in His grace and our inheritance in Heaven.
George Cargill
August 21, 2018