You may not have thought about it but fear is the opposite of faith. A believer who is constantly afraid of one thing or the other does not have much faith. Particularly in charismatic churches where the pastors teach members to be afraid of enemies, real and imagined. But according to Jesus, you can have fear or faith, never both in the same person. You recall when the disciples were afraid after they saw him walking towards them on water. He wondered why they were afraid and asked about their little faith.
In which of these two are you operating, fear or faith? If you are mostly on the fearful side, the good news is that you can change that today. It may not be easy especially if you are lazy, but it is doable. Writing to the Roman Christians, the Apostle Paul told them how faith can come to anyone who is willing to make the effort. Faith comes by hearing. Hearing what is the question we must ask ourselves, especially in these days of social media.
Do you hear the word of God or are you so busy hearing TikTok videos that your bible study suffers? Well then, don’t be surprised that you will be operating in fear. Because faith only comes by hearing the word of God, not social media posts. Today, you can make the choice: fear or faith. I pray you will choose faith and start studying your bible. It builds faith like nothing else on earth. For instance, if you know from the bible that Jesus is coming to take you home, what can frighten you? Nothing.
The Health Dangers Of Fear Or Faith
Fear distorts your perspective. It is only faith that allows you to see things from God’s view, which is the reality. Someone said we will be ashamed when we get to heaven and discover that the devil is small and powerless. The thought that he is fearsome is the wrong view and results from fear. Faith says that we are more than conquerors and that the devil is under our feet. Which one would you rather have, fear or faith? I know my choice and I hope you make the right choice today. 
When you are afraid, your heart rate and blood pressure increase. Now, they don’t stay up unless the fear is prolonged and then they can become a problem. Don’t forget that we are still considering the mental part of our series on divine health. Fear causes you to lose sleep and that can give you high blood pressure as well as obesity. Obesity occurs because when you are unable to sleep, you snack or even eat. Keep that up and before too long, you are gaining weight, with all its negative effects on your heart health.
Fear will also make your brain foggy – you have brain fog and cannot think straight. That is what must have happened to the prophet Elijah. He was so fearful of Jezebel that his perspective became distorted. The poor man started seeing himself as the only one that had not bowed the knee to Baal. And yet, God assured him he was wrong, that there were seven thousand knees that remained loyal to God. You recall how fear of the storm threatened to drown Peter as he walked on water. We could go on but by now, you must know whether or not fear or faith will be your watchword.
The Righteous Are As Bold As Lions
But just in case you are not yet sure, we observe what the bible says about those who are bold. Another word for bold is fearless; they are the righteous ones, those who live by faith. The righteous are bold as lions is how the bible says it. Nothing can dismay you or raise your blood pressure. You suffer no sleeplessness Such people will not pray amiss because they know the power of God. They don’t waste their prayers on enemies and hence are not always exhausted.
Note that the righteous fear God, and that is where their faith comes in. When you fear God, you have nothing else to fear. Such a person has looked at the options of fear or faith and has made the right choice. What about me? What about you? I pray you will consider the differences between fear or faith and choose faith today.
Maranatha!
