Disciplines Of The Mind : Faith

Read Mark 5 : 35-43

Do we really believe that our fears are based on lies? We must. We have to realize that every threat that comes against us is under God's watchful eye. We must understand that every concern of our lives is easily within His ability to relieve. While our sinful flesh and an aggressive enemy want to keep us preoccupied--even obsessed--with our security and status, God wants us preoccupied--even obsessed--with Him. If we would invest all of our emotions and thoughts into Him, He would manage our lives. We have such a hard time with that. We try to manage ourselves and give Him what's left over. But nothing is ever left over. We're completely spent on other things long before we turn to Him.

Why? Because we believe the threats are real. We believe the future may be dreadful. We believe that the economy may colapse, that the terrorists may win, and that the culture may grow inhospitable. Closer to our hearts, we believe that we may get sick, that we may not be able to pay the phone bill this month, or that our relationships may be easily broken. And as long as we think about these things, we cannot have faith. No one ever gets mountain-moving faith by obsessing about the mountains. They get it by focusing on God.

This takes discipline. It requires an active management of the thought life that perhaps we've never tried. It means that when a bill comes that is too large to pay, we must think about the God who is larger. We cannot lie awake at night wondering how we will pay it. It means that when there is crime in the neighbourhood or terror in the the world, we cannot obsess about the possible threats. We must think about the God who is Sovereign--our Protector, our Refuge, and our Strength.

We think that we are victims of our fear, but we are wrong. We actually cultivate it. We think about the threats to our well-being, never realizing that the threats are lies and our God is true. Will we suffer harm? Perhaps--but not ultimately, not out of His time, and not without a greater purpose. Faith knows that, and it isn't afraid.

Faith tells us of things we have never seen, and cannot come to know by our natural senses.


We all need faith to overcome fear.