When Fear and Faith Collide...

I have been thinking about how contradictory our lives are at times. Everywhere I look, yes even at myself, I see two things: people who are living in an extreme anticipation of seeing the desires of their heart come to fruition, and….the same people who are afraid to do what it takes to get there. My inquisitive mind got to wondering….how many of these same people will actually walk that desire out to fulfillment?  I mean….ALL THE WAY. I mean….won’t stop until they get to THAT PLACE. I mean….won’t just get “half way” there and then just “settle”.  I mean…we believe God put those desires there and we “say” we “trust” Him and we “believe” He is with us wherever we go….right?  So, what’s the problem?  Only God knows each heart so for me to say I know….I clearly don’t. But, I can say…..

Sometimes it’s a painful path getting to the place God is telling your heart to go. Who wants to be in a painful place….EVER??! I know I don’t.  But I also know life doesn’t work that way. I’ve been pondering on the “why”. WHY is it so painful?  The “why’s” I ran into may not be straight across the board. Maybe I am just speaking for myself. So, from my own experience…..

The path is painful because…….

*It requires change.

*It insists we start evaluating our own heart.

*We fear each step being afraid of the unknown.

*We fear making the wrong decision.

*It requires we know His voice and sense the leading of His spirit.

*It entails going….against all odds.

*It at times involves the severing of relationships in order to establish the ones He is calling us to.

*It may mean going against what our friends and family “feel” is the “best” next step for us.

*It means that sometimes people will get hurt in the process, including ourselves.

*We fear what we might lose.

*We have to trust what we can’t see.

*We have to believe what God put in the deep recesses of our heart is His doing, not ours.

*It is walked out without the desire of your heart.

*We have to keep going even when it’s painful.

To sum it all up…..the path is painful because we fear the journey.

I can’t speak for everyone, but I am a woman of faith. I love Jesus with all my heart and soul. I don’t do everything right and I am definitely not exempt of making my fair share of mistakes and bad decisions….but, why do I “fear” the journey when I am a woman of “faith”?  I know Jesus well enough to know that fear and faith can’t dwell in the same place. One is going to override the other…but which one wins MOST of the time?  If you say your faith…then good for you! I can only pray to get to that place someday before my time is up here on earth. But for those of us who will admittingly say that maybe, just maybe, more times than not….fear stops us from reaching the destination where our God-given desire is awaiting us. We want more than anything to complete our journey, to reach that place where the desires of our hearts are fulfilled, where the kingdom of God in us is released in its entirety…..you know, that place God put in each of us that will make the journey worth it…..our “sweet spot”. Again, I may be speaking for myself, even though I know I am complete in Christ, He is all I need or will ever need…..HE created something in me…..He created a “sweet spot” in me…..and until I get to the place where that “sweet spot” is…..there is a feeling in my life that something is “missing”.  In my own life….that is what keeps me going every day. There’s “hope” in knowing if I keep going my journey will take me to the place where my “sweet spot” is awaiting my arrival. 

I’ve been thinking. Is there a way to make the journey just a tad bit less painful? I’ve come to the conclusion that, yes, there is…..and it doesn’t include taking away any of the pain. Again, contradictory, I know. I do believe there is a way to minimize it, however. 

What would happen if our fear and faith would collide?  The path just might become less painful because…..

*We embrace the change because we know where it’s taking us.

*In evaluating our own hearts we get a better understanding of who we really are in Christ.

*We get excited about the next step because it means we are one step closer to our “sweet spot”.

*We thank God for allowing us the free will to make decisions and we trust Him enough to know if we do step off of His path….He will steer us right back on it.

*We are blessed to have an open invitation to go into His presence at any time to seek His guidance.

*Even though everything around us may shout “it ain’t never gonna happen!”.....Jesus lived a life against all odds….and He will see us through it no matter what it “looks” like and no matter what the enemy tries whispering in your ear. God will ensure the glory will be His especially…against all odds.

*As painful as cutting off relationships with people in our lives may be, we can rejoice at knowing God knows our end from our beginning and He sees the final destination…..there is nothing to fear because Father knows best.

*We know our friends and family love us and want what is, in their opinion, best for us….but when we follow the path God chooses for us…..He will ultimately be glorified as their faith is strengthened by our faith and determination…..and the courage it took for us to reach our “sweet spot” will be poured into them giving them the same hope to live out their desires as well.

*There is a pruning process and a growing processes wherever pain is present….when it’s God’s will He will heal the pain.

*We get excited about what we will gain in the long run getting to our God-ordained place.

*We get to thank GOD we don’t see the big picture because if we did we probably would NEVER get even remotely close to seeing the desires of our hearts come to fruition.

*We know that God is love and we can trust the fact that He is a God who would never dangle a carrot in front of His hungry children. He would never put a desire in our heart that He isn’t willing to fulfill.

*We embrace the fact that we will be the person God intended for us to be and at exactly the right time as we step into our “sweet spot”.

*We know we are never alone in Christ. We are complete. He is always with us….even through the pain.

In other words, when we are a person of faith who has Christ IN us…..there is nothing to question and nothing to fear. Fear paralyzes lives. Faith moves mountains. Faith…..takes us on a journey to our predetermined “sweet spot”.

Let's let our fear and faith collide today.....and watch our faith explode and our fear turn to ashes ♥

Godspeed ♥