Can Faith and Fear Coexist?

Da Mina Del Nuncio - March 16, 2021

So let's face the question: Can faith and fear coexist? The short answer is yes. Let's take a look at what's happening by going back to our story.

Steps of Faith “Early in the morning David left the flock in the care of a shepherd, loaded up and left, as Jesse had ordered. He reached the camp as the army was heading towards its battle positions, shouting the war cry. Israel and the Philistines were drawing their lines facing each other ”(1 Samuel 17: 20-21).

Faith and fear: Lord I trust in you

The Israelites took a step of faith. They lined up for battle. They shouted the war cry. They have drawn battle lines to face the Philistines. These were all steps of faith. You could do the same thing. Maybe you spend the morning worshiping. You read the God's word. Go to church faithfully. You take all the steps of faith you know you are taking and you do it with the right intentions and motivations. Unfortunately, there is more to the story.

Footsteps of fear “As he spoke to them, Goliath, the Philistine champion of Gath, stepped out of his lines and shouted his usual challenge, and David heard him. Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him with great fear ”(1 Samuel 17: 23-24).

Despite all their good intentions, despite aligning for battle and entering battle position even shouting the war cry, everything changed when Goliath showed up. As you can see, when he showed up their faith disappeared and out of fear they all ran away. It can happen to you too. You return to that situation full of faith ready to fight the challenge. The problem, however, is that once Goliath shows up, despite your best intentions, your faith goes out the window. This shows that in your heart there is this reality of faith and fear that coexist.

How to deal with dilemma?

One thing to remember is that faith is not the absence of fear. Faith is simply believing in God despite fear. In other words, faith becomes greater than your fear. David said something interesting in the Psalms. "When I am afraid, I trust in you" (Psalm 56: 3).