Picture: General George Washington: In prayer at Valley Forge-he believed in fate. In fierce battle he had four bullet holes through his coat, yet he was unharmed. This type of miraculous event occurred several times in his life.
“The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.” FDR said this after the Pearl Harbor attack and the beginning of the U.S. entry into a world war for which it was vastly unprepared. In that moment there were many reasons to be afraid, and yet he was exactly right in his statement. Chronic fear gets us nowhere, and can render us inert or going in absolutely the wrong direction.
There are many triggers for fear, even at a time we are not faced with such dire events as a world war. But whenever we are filled with feel fear (for whatever reason), it may as well be war. It is a war going on right within us. However, fear does have an opposite; it is faith. Many of the great warriors down through time had absolute faith in the fact that if it is their time to die, nothing can stop it, and if not their time, they could charge fearlessly into battle.
In modern life most are not faced with mortal combat, but there are still battlefields of fear: money issues, sickness and disease, ostracizing loneliness, failure, looking stupid, conflict; so many battlegrounds upon which fear wages battle for possession of our hearts, minds and souls. To not be defeated in this war we must look for allies that will enable us to win daily battles. Faith in fatalism, “If it is meant to be, then it will be,” is one ally. Faith can also be placed in the support of family or friends, societies, church, or government, and when things are desperate enough, even saints, angels and/or God.
A favorite story of mine was when a young boy was separated from his parents. The parents looked everywhere for him, then finally thought that their son had returned to their car. At last they found him sitting on the car hood. When his dad approached his son he asked, “Were you scared?” The boy responded, “I was so scared, I prayed to God!”
Well, it has to get pretty bad before many people pray to God. It is an interesting point, and it is true, many people only turn to God when things are desperate. Why is that? Many people simply don’t see how useful it is to have regular connection with God. Rather, prayer is something done at Sunday church, or in a crises. Some may say a prayer before a meal, others have their children pray before sleep, but to think of conversing with God through the day would never occur to them, or is thought to be just for “religious fanatics—those people.”
To see God as practical, even essential, a “workhorse” in daily life, and to cultivate a faith that meets every day needs would be an enormous step for many. For me, it seems the most logical thing in the world. From the first thing in the morning to the last thought at night God is part and parcel of my thoughts—of my being. Far from a “weakness,” it is my strength. God is my guide, my friend, comforter, solver of problems, wise counselor, an ocean of love, and peace; my all in all. And, it is the most practical thing in my life.
Faith that God is guiding and controlling me and the events in my life frees me to act in the moment. I need only concern myself with how He is flowing through me here and now. And, if He makes me think of some future event, or something from the past, then it is His Presence that is interwoven into those thoughts as well. What of finances, health, and every other possible problem area? They are in His keeping. Now, this does not mean I do not have a role to play, quite the opposite. I am co-creator with God, so my part is essential. However, the responsibility for how things go is not on my shoulders, it is on His. My part is to actively attune myself to His will, and follow it perfectly.
Imagine floating down a river, as we used to do with our feet pointed downstream, or floating on inner tubes or in rafts. The current is carrying you, but you must make adjustments to keep yourself from running aground or colliding with dangerous obstacles. Being aware of currents on the river made for the safest floats. Just so, we must be mindful to keep ourselves in the “current” of God’s will. Getting caught in the wrong current could end you in staid waters of depression, or in dangerous whirlpools of swirling, endless desires, or running into downed trees of painful situations that rip you into shreds. Sometimes you must paddle hard to avoid a wayward current, other times you are easily kept in the God-current by keeping your mind on Him. Really, once you find that passageway of God-awareness, it is much, much easier than being subject to the world only.
Faith in God means that you trust, trust that whatever He brings you is exactly right for you. It is faith in His guidance and wisdom, that He is with you as well-wisher, friend and comforter. It does not mean that waters are always smooth and easy; but really, we do love an adventure. With God, the good ending of the adventure is always assured, but it is still an adventure.
Faith in God means you keep your mind on Him, you think of His qualities of being all-powerful, all-conscious, everywhere present, all love, bliss and joy. You know that He is above you, beside you, everywhere about you, and securely found within you. He is guiding you and the events around you that lead you into His tremendous kingdom of heaven. Your faith brings you into harmony with Him, and you realize in greater and greater measure the truth of who and what He is, and of who and what you are. Faith such as this obliterates fear and makes you do all things in full confidence that He is ever with you, and you are ever in Him.