Choose Faith over Fear

By Eric

2-minute read

Here’s a newsflash I’ve needed to remember many times in my life, and maybe you do too (especially if you’re sort of type A like me). Here it is: you are not meant to live this life in persistent cycles of fear, crisis, and anxiety 😉

I think sometimes we misunderstand fear, as if it has to be some grizzly bear chasing us in the woods. But I think much more of our fear is subtle. I think many of us have more fear of things like lack of control, being unprepared, or not living up to our expectations from others (or just from ourselves). Those fears can be far more challenging than deciding what to do if a meteor is headed for earth—we’re probably the go-to problem solvers in those situations who won’t flinch to find a solution.

Fear is not bad. Our fear responses have their place as a survival mechanisms, and to sometimes propel us forward. But they’re not meant to dominate our life in a negative way.

Anxiety is similar. As human beings we have a very powerful ability to project our thoughts into the future to help us consider various eventualities and outcomes. But it’s one thing to plan and strategize, and a very different thing to become entangled or paralyzed by what hasn’t happened yet (and probably never will).

Projecting our thoughts into the future is powerful when we use it for good—but living there in fear is not a great idea. The apostle Paul said: “God didn’t give us a spirit of fear; but of power…” Jesus often told people not to fear or worry, but instead to emphasize belief and faith.

In fact, many psychological and spiritual concepts also revolve around this idea. They rightly note that fear and anxiety are usually just a mismatch between what our soul knows to be true, and what our current thoughts may be that are contrary to that truth.

In other words, despite the rare acute situation of imminent danger like bears and meteors, our default mindset should be one of focus, empowerment, clarity, love, wisdom, and positive alignment. Those are the frequencies of God.

So if we are thinking a fearful thought, that painful emotion that results can often be just an indication of the distance of our current thought from the perspective of God. Again, with the rare exception of imminent danger. The worse the emotion feels, the further the thought is from the perspective of God. It’s a really interesting system if we become are aware of it. Justified fear doesn’t feel bad, it feels right (like to run from that bear).

So the next time you find yourself in a spiral of fear or anxiety, or in a cycle of crisis you recognize as recurring in your life (noticing that same general theme happening again, but with different players), just ask yourself if the thought you’re dominantly thinking consciously or subconsciously is coming from a Godly perspective? If not, consider if you can apply faith, belief, and trust to that situation instead of fear, doubt, or scarcity to shift and pivot to a new outcome. Use your powerful imagination to consider what could go right instead of what could go wrong.

Of course this sometimes easier said than done, especially if something feels really bad right now, but it’s what we are asked to do by Jesus. Life is always asking us to control our mind and choose faith over fear—it’s not just some religious idea, it’s a law of nature too. In fact, it seems to be a main point for living—getting opportunity after opportunity to apply faith over fear and revel at the results. We are not meant to be passive about it. We’re not meant to be mental worriers, we’re meant to be mental warriors!

So the next time you feel fear or anxiety, just ask: “what is a different thought I could have about this situation it from a perspective of faith and empowerment?” If you struggle to come up with an alternative thought or action, try praying or meditating and see what shifts. You may find like I did, your life can shift in a major way when you simply commit to choose faith over fear more often.