FAITH OR FEAR NOT BOTH! True or False? Let's talk about it.

One of the most important things I had to take control of before, during and after I started this qwest to find a healthier me for the 3rd time was my fear. I feared my ability to change, to stay consistent and to succeed. This fear I had was real and I knew exactly where it came from. It was created through several attempts and failing each time! Of course as a believer of Christ I've always been taught that fear and faith cannot co-exist, so now I added a fear of failing God to that list! I HAD TO GET IT TOGETHER! I needed to be okay with having a certain level of fear, all while also understanding it won't last! I remember speaking with a Christian friend of mine and she gave me this scripture. Jeremiah 2:19 “Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.” Sooo exactly what do I take from This? How does this scripture relate to my current fear of failure? This verse says to me that if we have the fear of God in us, we would not be doing ungodly things. Therefore, godly fear is a good thing for us, as believers. So because I over eat I don't fear God? I never really understood why she gave me this scripture or how it relates to my issues until I started studying more. I did finally understand it, and this scripture speaks to all Gods Children and how we should live. You will understand as you keep reading. Okay, so let's start with what I did know at the very beginning! I knew I had faith in myself, and I believed that I CAN do all things through Christ who gives me strength! I just needed the courage to face my fears head on! At that point I was stuck dealing with the two things that ive been taught my entire life to have one or the other....You can't have faith if you have fear! But I did! Now what? My first step was here. I knew I had to FIRST understand this battle between FEAR and FAITH! YES they are diametrically opposite, but am I setting myself up for failure accepting that they are both part of my life, and being okay with that? I had to take this to my B.I.B.L.E (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth) the FIRST time I learned about fear and faith together was when I read Hebrews 11:7 “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” The significance of this verse to me was it showed me that fear and faith can exist together. This is why it is so important to read the word of God daily, because although I read this verse years ago, it only meant something to me then! WHEN I REALLY NEEDED IT IN MY LIFE! As I embarked on a journey to find an overall healthier me, I feared failure and hesitated to try again. I had faith but it was weak! Then I began to question if I had faith at all because of what had been beaten into my head most of my life. We have been taught to dislike the word fear and rebuke it every time we feel it. We've been taught to take that to God in prayer, and ask him to activate our faith. Noah was a man with unshakable faith in the Lord, yet he also had an unshakeable fear that moved him to obey God. It was his faith in the Lord he believed in and of God that produced a holy reverent or godly fear which in turn moved him to obey every instruction and warning that came from God in the scripture. What God said He meant it! Noah had a reverent and worshipful fear. He was not afraid of what God would do to him, it was more of a fear and awe of His almighty power. We have been taught because of our fear we hesitate, we look first and we need to just take a leap of faith trusting we will be protected by God. Will God protect those that know his word and habitually disobey it? No! So the fear should be of his word and his power, it should move you listen and follow his word. I didn't really fear his word. I have learned through this scripture and several others that fear can co-exist with faith as long as it is this godly fear that we see in the word of God. Godly fear results in sacrificial obedience. MY GOD! Let me repeat this... GODLY FEAR RESULTS IN SACRIFICIAL OBEDIENCE!! This moved me because I knew at this point of my studying that I did NOT have Godly Fear! Listen, as human beings that love the Lord we were born to just jump, however, through trial and error ungodly or as the bible calls it tormenting fear was born. Tormenting fear can NOT co- exist with faith. It is that crippling fear that brings torment to us. It is the fear I had.

Fear of dying Fear of losing a loved one Fear of failure Fear of the future Fear of getting a disease Fear of being robbed Fear of poverty Fear of man Fear of the devil all of the above are examples tormenting fear, and this fear can NOT co-exist with faith. We MUST understand the difference.

Romans 6:16 “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” Godly fear would be like our parents telling us not to do certain things because if we do them, it will cause us pain or could even kill us. Our heavenly Father is no different, if we respect Him, we will also be afraid to disobey Him as He has already outlined the consequences of sin. How did I get here? Have I disobeyed God with how I treat my body? Well... I had to go back into my word again, because in order to change we need to understand what we've done wrong.

Some things are easy to recognize as wrong. Stealing, lying, cheating etc. are those obvious wrongs. However, overeating, drinking too much, gaining weight snd being lazy with consistently trying to take care of my body is not an obvious sin. Unhealthy sure, but a sin? I honestly wasn't sure so I had to read more. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple" This means to me that God's people are holy, living with the holy spirit in them. I am a child of God and I have a duty to honor God with how I live!

1 Corinthians 10:31 "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God". There is no activity too mundane, too “secular” that we could not do that for the glory of God. Eat to the glory of God. Drink to the glory of God.

1 John 2:15-17 "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever". Believers are to love God and one another, not the world or possessions. This life is full of temptations that we stumble accross, but the goal is the flee from them with God's help as we recognize it as ungodly. I didn't flee, I got deeper and deeper. destroying my mind and my body till I got to the point of tormenting fear! Fear of death, sickness and failure. I hated how I look, how I felt, and at one point I thought about suicide! So how did I get out of that tormenting fear? First I repented! I ask God for forgiveness. Then I had to forgive myself! Lastly I needed Courage to get started because I was still Scared.

Courage is the ability to act on one's beliefs despite danger or disapproval. My belief is in the word of God! I started to become more obedient to the word of God, and with that I had less fear of failure, death etc.

Courage is the opposite of fear for me. It is capable of combatting my fear. In the face of ungodly fear I pushed back with courage.

Ultimately the faith to know that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me kicked in, and my journey began again. I did it! It wasn't easy but I used the word of God and his people that loves me to help me! I surrounded myself with love! I hope you take from this a clear understanding that fear and faith can exist together as long as it is godly fear! Tormenting fear is what Satan uses to destroy our minds then our body. I'm only Surviving Obesity today because of my love for the Lord. I want to be a representation of his love in every area of my life. You should see his love in my walk, my talk, my job and in how I treat myself! ❤