Kristi Muszik Fear is Faith in Reverse – Zig Ziglar
F-E-A-R has two meanings: ‘Forget Everything and Run,’ or ‘Face Everything and Rise.’ – Zig Ziglar
Fear is the negative of things that you put your belief in and trust. Faith is the positive thing you put your confidence and trust in. You can’t have fear and faith at the same time. You can only believe in one thing. So, is it going to be negative or positive? It’s your choice, and we have to live with the consequences of that choice.
I read a statement from Zig Ziglar. He said, “Fear has been correctly identified with the acrostic False Evidence Appearing Real. The truth is that we think something is to be feared, that perception becomes the cruelest form of reality.”
Fear is the enemy, and it likes to play games with our mind if we allow it.
That’s why we must be aggressive with taking hold of our minds and dominating our thoughts.
Whatever we put our entire focus on, through fear or faith, it becomes our reality. If we keep our thoughts on fearful events, it will become a reality in our lives. The same thing with faith; the positivity of faith will manifest in our lives.
Have you ever heard of a story of someone afraid of flying because they were afraid of dying in an airplane crash, and after a few years of thinking and continually talking about their fear, they end up killed in an airplane crash? I also heard of a story of someone in an airplane accident, and as the airplane was on fire, they had their faith in God to take care of them, and God escaped them. They both believed it into existent — different outcomes, but precisely what they believed. One believed they would die in an airplane crash; the other believed that God would take care of them and make a way to escape.
We can put so much fear in things because of experiences we have experienced, from watching our family experiences or hearing about specific experiences from other individuals, which can be the same regarding our faith. We can put faith in God because of our experiences or watching or hearing about other’s experiences.
We need to learn to examine our fears.
When we fear something, we need to ask ourselves why we are fearful of this. For example, if you are afraid of being rejected. Ask yourself why? Did you go through a painful experience of rejection by a loved one, like your parents, grandparents, spouse, or close friend? What transpired during that time? Are you experiencing a similar situation triggering that painful moment in your life of feeling rejected and unloved? Are you fearful of feeling the pain again that you thought in the past?
No one likes to go through a painful experience. Especially one that we have experienced before. We become fearful of the pain, and we get into the protective mode, trying to protect ourselves from going through those painful experiences again. So, we tend to want to close ourselves off and be in shut-off mode or do everything we can not to face that pain again. We become fearful of the pain of whatever we face, like rejection, because we all want to be loved and accepted.
When we face our fears, be honest about them, and look at the root of why we are fearful, we can deal with anxiety and overcome it as long as we refuse to face fear, overcome it, and resist it. It will become a stronghold in our lives, becoming stronger by the day until the very thing we fear manifests itself in our lives. As long as we meditate and think continually about the situation we are fearful of, it will manifest itself in our lives.
There is a Japanese proverb, “Fear is only as deep as reminding allows.”
Better to face danger once than to be always in fear – Zig Ziglar
So many of us, knowingly or unknowingly, drive our daily actions that limit the life we can live by walking in fear.
There is a reason God says, “Fear Not!” We read in Isaiah 41:10 the Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Fear not [there is nothing to fear], for I am with you; do not look around you in terror and be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties, yes, I will help you; yes, I will hold you up and retain you with My [victorious] right hand of rightness and justice.
In the midst of facing fear, God promises that he won’t leave us or forsake us, but be with us with every step of the way. He has given us the ability to resist fear. Otherwise, He wouldn’t tell us to do so if we couldn’t.
I made poor decisions because of fear, but through the grace of God, he was able to help me change it around. With my first husband, the Holy Spirit told me not to marry him, for if I do, I will end up divorced. However, I allowed fear to dictate my decisions of what individuals would think if I canceled the wedding the night before. During the divorce, I was motivated by fear of lack of money since I was just a homemaker with no degree to get a good-paying job. I allow fear of lack of money to dictate some poor decisions, causing me to walk away from less than I would have gotten.
Fear is an enemy of faith. It will stop the power of God from working in your life. – Kenneth E. Hagin
Fear limits God’s ability to move on our behalf. When we walk in fear, we shut the door for God to bestow upon us all of his promises of blessings, and we open the door for the devil to move destruction upon our lives.
Faith moves God. Fear moves the devil.
We have to get real, separate fantasy from reality, and know that fear can be an illusion of something. When we are in fear of rejection, the example I have been using, we are in false thinking. Yes, maybe we have experienced rejection from someone, but you are accepted. Feeling rejection from someone is due to their pain, insecurities, and inability to value and accept themselves, so they project rejection toward you, but you are not rejected.
You are accepted by the one that matters most. This statement reminds me of a song sung by DeGarmo and Key. A Christian rock group started in 1978. The song title, I’m Accepted. We talk about how we may not have much or can do much but are accepted by the One who matters most.
Satan wants us to believe that we are rejected, not wanted, and not loved. When the Bible tells us that we are accepted, wanted, and loved. It’s our choice what we are going to believe, what God’s word says, or the lies from Satan.
The only one that matters most is our beloved Heavenly Father. He is the only one that we need to know that we are accepted. Our precious Jesus is the only one who laid down His life for us to have eternal life. It only matters that we are loved and accepted by Him, and nothing can separate His love from us. He loves us unconditionally, and people love us conditionally if they aren’t mature enough in the Lord to know how to love unconditionally. People’s feelings change. They accept you one moment and not the next. But God never changes. His love stays the same. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8 NKJV)
The more you realize how loved and accepted you are by God, the less you will look for and want to be loved and accepted by man. You will turn your eyes from looking at the approval of man and toward God for His approval.
One way to eliminate fear is to do the very thing you are fearful of. Look at fear through your Fearless eyes. Laugh in the face of fear. Talk to fear. Tell fear that it has to go. Tell fear that it was defeated two thousand years ago through the cross. Tell fear that it has no right over you. Tell fear that you dominate it. You might be sweating profusely, or your knees feel like they may give out beneath you any minute, or you might feel like you are paralyzed and can’t move. But if you resist fear and keep opposing it, it will flee from you, and the more you keep a stand against it, the easier it will become, and the less fighting to resist it, it will become.
Faith is having an unquestioning belief in God – Kenneth E. Hagin
I had a fear of cancer. I didn’t like being around people who were battling cancer, and I wouldn’t say I liked talking about cancer. I didn’t particularly appreciate reading any materials that talk about cancer. I just wanted to avoid anything to do with cancer. My parental grandfather died because of cancer. I didn’t like cancer!
A few years ago, the doctors found some abnormal cells in my civic area and wanted more testing. Satan took this opportunity to put thoughts of cancer in my mind, trying to play up my fear. I had a choice to make. Would I allow fear of cancer to grow and dominate my thinking and come into existence, or will I resist fear and stay in faith in God’s word of His promises for my healing to be manifested with healthy cells in my civic area? I chose the latter.
The Lord also brought into my memory a story I heard of a lay in a hospital dying of brain cancer; she got a hold of God’s word and started laughing at the fear of cancer. She made a stand to face cancer fearlessly and laugh at it. I don’t remember the time frame, but she walked out of the hospital cancer-free.
So, I decided to take a stand and face the fear of cancer with Fearless eyes and laugh at it. Over time, the abnormal cells started subsiding, and healthy cells began increasing. And other things started balancing out. I refused the spirit of fear to play with my thinking. I refused to think about what if. I had chosen to follow what Philippians 4:8 said. “Finally, [a]believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart].” (AMP)
Paul and Silas, in Acts 16:25-26, were thrown in prison, and while they were there, they laughed at fear by praising God, and a great earthquake opened the prison doors and lost the shackles of their bodies. What would have happened if they allowed fear to dominate their thoughts and they gave in to it? I for sure can say that they wouldn’t have been loosed from prison and the shackles. They, through fear, would have prevented God from coming and rescuing them and, through their faith, allowed God to come and save them.
You can do this; you can resist fear, overcome all the obstacles that are fear-related, and be free. You can choose to be Living Without Fear. I believe in you, and most of all, Jesus believes in you and has given you the power and authority to resist fear and live a life of peace.
You are a Fearless One! Even though you may not feel like it at times. You are!
Every day look in the mirror and say to yourself; I am fearless. I face the day fearlessly. I look at every fear that tries to come against me with Fearless eyes. Fear is becoming fearful of my fearlessness.
