One huge blockage to growing in measures of God’s capacity is fear. It is the opposite of faith. Fear works against faith. It stifles and restrains faith from being activated and the Holy Spirit from freely flowing in our midst. It acts as a barrier, limiting our capacity to trust; therefore limiting our ability to apprehend the knowledge of God and function in the ways of God. That’s why God wants us to grow in trusting faith.
RELEVANCE
Faith comes from God. Fear doesn’t. It comes from God’s adversary, the devil, whose forces of darkness work to oppose every work of God. “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).
God offers us the gift of faith and soundness of mind. We receive the gift when we receive His love and truth. Fear, on the other hand, comes from believing and following falsehoods; the power source of the kingdom of darkness.
REFLECT AND RELATE
Conduct a fear inventory. What fears have a stronghold over you? How did they get there?
Conduct a faith inventory—or inventory of testimonies of God’s faithfulness in your life. Allow the side of faith to tip the scale and overpower the side of fear. God will give you the strength to walk in that greater faith.
REFERENCES
Matthew 6:25-34; 10:27-31