Faith Over Fear

At Empty Frames Initiative, we have been working on our Culture Guide for a while now. This is a workbook for training staff, volunteers, and board members for how to do the work of caring for orphaned and vulnerable youth as they transition out of state care. It's not finished, but now seemed like an appropriate time to share one work-in-progress section titled "Faith Over Fear". This was written with believers in mind; if you haven't chosen Jesus as your Savior we encourage you to read this and/or reach out to us so we can connect you with a local church!

Faith over Fear

Everyday in our lives we encounter opportunities to choose faith over fear. Fear in and of itself is just an emotion, sometimes a helpful and healthy emotion. But we want to talk about the spiritual choice of faith. When we recognize that we are fighting in a spiritual war, when we see an opportunity that would give someone else the chance to choose salvation but we're afraid of what it would take, or when we see things that cause us to question our own beliefs about salvation, the choice to go with faith over fear is imperative. Some truth that the Bible says plainly: we are fighting a battle in a settled war. When Jesus died on the cross for you and I, He declared "it is finished". Because of His victory, we can daily choose faith. Because He made a way for us to receive the Spirit into our lives, we can choose faith. He's given us the Word, so that we will always choose faith.

Some verses included in this chapter:

The LORD has made bare His holy arm

In the eyes of all the nations;

And all the ends of the earth shall see

The salvation of our God. Isaiah 52:10

I know that You can do everything, And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. Job 42:2

To the Chief Musician. On a stringed instrument. A Psalm of David. Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings. Selah -Psalm 61:1-4

Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. -Romans 8:27-39

Then He said to His disciples, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. -Luke 12:22-34

For some specific places of the Bible to read:

"You were made for such a time as this." the book of Esther

"Confronting Lies & Loneliness" 1 Kings 17:1 - 2 Kings 2:11