One can be a Christian but hold back parts of themselves; perhaps they can’t live generously because of fear of lack and poverty. Ultimately, they don’t trust God in this area. This has clear consequences: first, knowing that “without faith it is impossible to please God, because… he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6), failing to trust in God and earnestly seek Him in any way will mean one will miss out on God’s reward. For example, Scripture says, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love”(1 John 4:18), therefore, we can view fear as a signal of lack of trust in God’s promises, it is a sign to bring something to the feet of Jesus. I’m absolutely not condemning anyone who experiences fear and anxiety, the Bible doesn’t ignore the realities that humans fall short of perfection, rather it guides us through where we are at, but it does point us to perfection in Christ Jesus. Scripture actually instructs us to “let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts”(Colossians 3:15), that means that peace or anxiety is your decision..! Do you LET anxiety rule your heart or peace? I am making a complex concept simple right now, of course there is many layers to how fear and anxiety work naturally, mentally and spiritually, but that being said, Scripture clearly says that the one who fears is not made perfect in love, and a major part of that is that we are double-minded often times and don’t deeply, innately trust God’s promises. Trust in God is the currency of Heaven. It is through faith that we experience the fruits of God’s kingdom. Remember, the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit(Romans 14:17), therefore fully submitting to God and trusting in His promises will lead you to a place of genuinely experiencing this.
Partakers of the Divine Nature
“by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire”
2 Peter 1:4
Perfect trust in God’s promises allows us to become partakers of the divine nature; if you absolutely trust that “every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him”(Proverbs 30:5), “even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me”(Psalm 23:4), and countless other scriptures about the Lord being our stronghold and defender, etc., then fear would have no grip on you. Although in many cases the promise in God’s Word also requires a part that we have to play, besides solely trusting. In Proverbs 30:5, it says, “he is a shield to those who take refuge in him,” which means that God actually has to be their refuge in order to experience the benefit of God’s promise; he actually has to be the thing which one runs to when they are facing difficulty, hardship, danger, doubt, etc. This is one example of partaking in the divine nature, as well as what it means to “let the peace of Christ rule in your heart”, believing God’s Word is a decision, a decision that is separate from just believing in God, and we need to be intentional in continuously working that belief deep into our hearts.
The Root of the Problem
We identify the root of the problem here, which is unbelief. The gospel of Mark accounts of a moment when a synagogue ruler named Jairus comes to Jesus asking him to heal his daughter, but while they are on the way to see his daughter, they find out that she has died. Jesus responds to this by saying to Jairus, “Do not fear, only believe”(Mark 5:36). The remedy for fear is belief, you may have heard the saying ‘fear is just faith in a negative outcome’, well there is a lot of truth in that proverb, ultimately do you have more faith in your personal knowledge and experience, or in the word of God. Ultimately, the essence of sin itself is distrust in God, I’m not going to unpack this statement but I will just say that this is why in Romans, we receive a deeper understanding of sin when it is written, “For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin”(Romans 14:23). When Paul talks about salvation in Ephesians, “saved by grace, through faith”, we actually see a type of formula of how things operate in the spiritual realms, and in God’s kingdom. God’s promises, and any revelation from God, are given by grace, and they are accessed through faith, or “put to use” by faith. And so, I believe that the church is full of believers of “weak faith” and double-mindedness, who claim to believe the Word of God, but don’t believe it in their hearts, and don’t deeply “know” Christ.
“For most men judge what is credible… by the measure of their own experience.”
– Saint Gregory of Nyssa
Now you might say, “I believe God’s word, and I believe he protects me and watches over me, and I believe those verses.. but I still experience anxiety and fear”. I would say that our feelings reveal what we actually believe, oftentimes at a subconscious level, in the heart. Now, I want to clarify again that I am not condemning anyone for being anxious, I experience anxious feelings, of course, but if I’m being honest with myself, then I know that those feelings reveal something in my heart. I also want to clarify that there is a difference between natural fear, a stronghold of fear, and a spirit of fear; for example, if you see a bear in a woods and it starts chasing you then natural fear would cause you to run for your life, whereas a stronghold of fear causes habitual thought/feeling patterns of fear, and a spirit of fear influences you by inputting fearful thoughts into your mind and anxious feelings inwardly (this can be hard to discern because it may feel like your own thoughts). So, habitual patterns of fear doesn’t mean there is a demonic attachment necessarily, just to clarify, however, it does mean that you have come into agreement with fear(which could include demonic influence) instead of God’s Word in past occasions and now it affects your pattern of thinking. I’m simply using fear here as an example; self-hatred, desire for attention, depression, and so many other things could be examples as well, but let’s reel us back in to the purpose of this post, which is ultimately submission and trust.
We believe in Christ, but there are many truths in Scripture about ourselves and God that haven’t yet taken root in our hearts. Trust is the currency of Heaven, it is through trust in God that we experience wholeness, and it is through absolute dependence that we experience His kingdom. So how can we develop a deeper trust in God and His promises?
Working Belief into Your Heart
‘And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. ‘ Deuteronomy 6:6-9
Practical Steps
- Read the Bible (with intention). Starting with the obvious, Scripture informs us about who God is and what he’s done throughout history, especially through the revelation of Jesus Christ. But all of Scripture witnesses of God’s faithfulness, steadfastness, and his character, “God is not man, that he should lie”(Numbers 23:19). And as quoted above in Deuteronomy, we should be taught the word, talk about the word constantly, have physical reminders of the word, do whatever we can do to keep God’s Word in our mind. “Blessed is the man… whose delight is in the law of the Lord , and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers”(Psalm 1:1-3).
- Read Psalms like Psalm 91 and Psalm 23 as prayers, read them like you believe them and declare them over your life by faith.
- Value Prayer above everything – In prayer we can petition God, cry to him, place our burdens on him, but ultimately, prayer is communion with God. It is impossible to genuinely trust and love someone that you don’t know, even if you know everything there is to know about them. – p.s. Talk to God throughout your day and find something to thank Him for as often as possible.
- Ask God to search your heart – Psalm 139:23-24 says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” This is a prayer everyone should pray at least semi-regularly, and to repent for anything that comes to mind during and after praying it.
- Discern that which is ungodly within you – As we go throughout our day-to-day lives, we ought to be looking inwardly, and be able to recognize what is causing us to be fearful, angry, self-reliant, etc. We should view these emotions or patterns as signals, bring them to God in prayer, ask Him to reveal the root of the sin, and then repent.
- Stop speaking death over yourself – “Death and life are in the power of the tongue”(Proverbs 18:21). We often hear this verse but fail to apply it to our lives. For example, stop saying “I’m just an anxious person”; in saying this, you speak that over your identity like that is who you are. Are you sure that God would agree with that? Instead, you could say that you’ve been experiencing anxiety, but don’t identify these things with who you are as a person. It’s like someone claiming bi-sexual or gay as their ‘identity’, “that’s just who they are”, but that’s not what God says about them or who He created them to be, in the same way you’re not “just an anxious person”, that is not your God-given identity.
- Another example of speaking death is gossip. Proverbs 18:8 says, “The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts.” Partaking in gossip genuinely affects the heart like poison, and we are called to guard our hearts above all else (Proverbs 4:23). We ought to guard our eyes and ears to prevent filth from entering our hearts, and being wary of gossip is an important aspect of that. Side note: for whatever reason, I only hear people talk about “guarding your heart” in the context of relationships, which isn’t wrong, but it’s soooo much deeper than that.
Some of these things, like reading the Bible and prayer, are more “constructive” in forming that relationship with God, whereas the others are a bit more “de-constructive”, meaning that there things within us that need to be cleansed or purged out in order to continue walking the narrow path that leads to life and to become more deeply united with God, which will greatly strengthen our faith in Him and level us up in spiritual authority.
At the heart of the Christian life is simply seeking God with your whole heart and submitting to the Holy Spirit’s leading, and that looks a bit different for everyone, as we are all blessed with unique paths and walks of life. Ultimately, I want to be abundantly rich in faith and in dependence on God, because that is a vessel through which God can work His mighty power. These are some of the methods and ideas that are helping me grow in that direction.
Stay Blessed by the Best