We (and I include myself in this conversation) fear everything. Think about it.

We fear not getting a job.

We fear not being able to graduate from college.

We fear never getting married.

We fear that we don't look 'good enough.'

We fear having or not having children.

We fear failure.

We fear bugs (let's be honest here).

We fear death.

We fear illness and terminal diseases.

And sometimes, we even fear ourselves.

Now, you've seen your fears. Let's see what the Lord says about our faith ...

Romans 1:17 "For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith." (NKJV)

2 Corinthians 5:6-8 "So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord." (NKJV)

Hebrews 11:1-3 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which were visible." (NKJV)

Do you see the word 'fear' in any of those verses?

What words do you see?

Righteousness

Revealed

Confident

Walk without knowing what to expect

Absent from the body

Present with the Lord

Substance

Evidence

Testimony

Framed

Visible

Every single one of these words or phrases reveals to us that because we have God, we can be confident in pursuing the things we cannot see because if we are full of faith, we trust that God knows where we're going before we can even see the horizon.

If we have faith that God is bigger than our fear, then conquering any battle we encounter will be following God's will for our life. God knew that the life we would live and the roads we would walk would be difficult. He also knew that we would tempted to fear His plans instead of having faith that He would carry us through.

Hebrews 11:6 says this about following through with our faith when we are tempted by our fear: "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." You see, to place our fear before our faith is to doubt that God is good and that He sees what we are unable to see. To doubt our God is to deny Him and His ability to protect us. After all, He sees everything we do, everything we are, and everything that we can be. He also sees the rocks we will trip over and the cliffs we will fear looking over from the fear of falling. But, God desires that we look over that cliff so that we are able to see that our doubt in Him is what made us afraid to look over the cliff only to find solid ground a half a foot down.

See, fear will stunt your faith. Fear will cause you to stand back when God calls you forward in His mission for you. Fear will cause you to doubt God and ultimately, that is displeasing to Him. When we doubt God, we are unable to see his full grace and glory and the ability He has to propel us towards facing our fears.

God expects you to have fears but He also expects you to remember your faith in Him. He expects you to remember that your fears were created by the world and the only real refuge from what you fear the most is to seek the One you should trust the most. If what you are afraid of is what God is calling you to do, wouldn't you hate to know you turned around and gave up on what could have been the greatest moment of your life? Wouldn't you like to know that even though the edge of the cliff is a scary thought, when you look over, you realize it's actually not a cliff at all? God will protect you and stop you from jumping at the wrong opportunities. He will stop you from going full force into plans that you have created for yourself. But, He will always urge you to fly when you say "but, I'm scared" because YOUR FAITH MUST BE BIGGER THAN YOUR FEAR AND YOUR FEAR MUST ALWAYS COME SECOND TO GOD.

He loves you. He desires you. He is jealous for you. He wants your fears. He wants your faith. He wants a relationship with you that is so strong, your faith always shines brighter than your fears. Don't you desire that kind of faith and trust too? I know I do. I know that I want to look forward with confidence about the future and the uncertainty of life without fearing the "what if's" or the "but's." Take a leap of faith, trust God. Trust His plan. And, when He tells you to trust Him because He's got you ... fly.

Jeremiah 29:11-14 "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me will all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity [your fear]..."