The Path of Trust, The Path of Fear
As Christians, we have a desire to live a life of trust in God. We know from the Word of God that this is God’s plan for us, and we never intend to live otherwise. But the Devil tricked Eve and Adam, and he easily seduces us too.
This teaching from our Senior Pastor Sylvia Jones has helped me over the years to catch myself when I am off God’s path of trust in Him. I repent, forgive, and change as quickly as I can, then go on living a life of service and sacrifice. This is my victory over the devil and all his schemes. He cannot understand that choice, and he never will. I break the devil’s control over any part of my life through simple obedience to God.
“I run in the path of your commands,
for you have set my heart free.” Psalm 119:32
What has life been like for you? For most of us it has been a mixed bag — blessings, joys, and victories, but also disappointment, hurt, rejection, shame.
What do we do with the latter? We make a choice about how to react. We may be able to choose a path of trust, but I have seen that more often we choose not to trust God, or we do not know to trust God, which as actually a choice of fear.
The Path of Trust
On this path, or with this choice, we acknowledge and accept that God is perfect, powerful and wise. We know personally that He loves me, He cares for me. I know this through His Word and through my experience with Him in the past.
Christ loves, forgives, and calls us to repentance. We are Christians. We can repent, love and forgive too. We can obey God by trusting Him. We fear God only.
On this road there is:
- Healing, deliverance, freedom, hope.
- We are thankful, anointed, powerful, and stable.
- Our relationship with God and others is open, close, committed.
- We are willing to sacrifice, serve and give, to build the Kingdom of God.
- We fight for the church to grow and the lost to be saved.
- We are submitted to the Word, the church, the leaders. We are married, in a spiritual sense, to the church, our spiritual husband.
- We are a light in the darkness — people are drawn to God, to healing and to salvation through our lives.
- We know this is what we were made for.
- We know it is the narrow road Jesus described, the one that is not so easy to take or to stay on, but it is for us the highway of holiness, the gate of heaven, the heart of God.
It is the road of Life!
Think about it…..
If parts of this description do not quite fit where you are or how you think, or what you do with your life, no one can or should judge where you are, and you are free to stay off that path. But this summary of the Word of God comes as a warning. There is a clear line between this road and the next. It is the line that saves us. If we can see that we have crossed the line, we can get back. Otherwise, we might just drift off unknowingly to destruction.
If the following description of the road of fear describes you, any part of your life, how you think or act, simply repent, ask for God’s help, for a leader’s help, do something to get back to trusting God. Sometimes it takes a huge effort to “fake it until we make it,” to discipline ourselves to do the opposite until that positive thing becomes habit, a lifestyle, instead of our old dead ways.
The Path of Fear
Remember that life often brings disappointment, hurt, rejection, and shame.
On the path of fear, I say, “In my pride I will not trust God.”
I’ll hide, refuse to change, refuse God’s help. This is sin. The catch is that pride blinds us, and we do not see where we are. How we need the grace and mercy of God!
Anxiety, stress, worry, or a more obvious fear rises in our life. It might be like a dripping tap, (the same tap that produces the nagging wife in Proverbs), it might rattle every once in a while, especially when an old memory returns or a similar challenge comes again and we have to face it or flee, or this monster might be an immobilizing roar.
I have leaned, when I am anxious, stressed, worried or openly afraid, to ask myself “WHAT AM I AFRAID OF?” If I can get to that root of my problem, I can rip it out of my life through repentance and obedience.
We can see if we are lost on the path of fear if we are often wanting to be in control, or are trying to be in control. God has given us some clear responsibilities in life. These we should do our best to care for. The rest we must leave to God, or to the choice of others who may not be in obedience to God at all, and because of this we may suffer, but still, Jesus is the only Savior.
We may be too pushy, or too shy, too loud or too quiet.
We need a balance of rest and work, but in fear we hide from life, or from responsibilities. Yet God did not mean for us to be alone and unsupported. He created us to be in families, to have friendships. On the other hand, sometimes in fear we lean too much on others.
God created us to work together as a team, as a unit, yet in fear we take on too much of life, we try to carry responsibilities and cares that are not ours, even to push our help and care away.
In our insecurity (the path of fear is never secure) we long for appreciation, confirmation, support, comfort. We go after that in the wrong ways and wrong places.
On this road we find many signposts, (or if we are not looking, pitfalls):
- Hopelessness
- Depression, sadness, grief
- Instability
- Anger (that lasts), unforgiveness
- Jealousy
- Isolation, loneliness
- Judging, religiousness
- Criticism, accusation, complaining
- Addictions, bad habits
- Sinful lifestyles, rebellion
- division, broken relationships
- Sickness, disease, weakness.
- Laziness
- Feeling overworked
- Lies, confusion
- Darkness
- Demonic control
- Destruction
- Death
God comes to our help in all these situations. He has even conquered death and the grave! There is nothing he cannot sort out and heal if we turn to him in repentance and humility for help. He has given us the church. He has given us faithful wise leaders to guide and encourage us. He has shown us the path of trust and life. All we need to do is to start walking on it.
