Can you have faith and fear at the same time? Are they compatible on any level or are they mutually exclusive?
If you turn to the Psalms you find over half of them are lament. They express sorrow. They express anger. They express fear and concern.
They also express faith.
It seems to me that faith and fear intersection on a rolling schedule. As one rises the other doesn’t necessarily go away as much as it become less obvious. It is like the ocean. Whether the waves are high or short the sand beneath it all remains fairly static.
Fear comes and goes but what is underneath it all is what matters. You can have faith and fear at the same time. So please don’t feel guilty if you feel fearful. We are human. We are earthen vessels. Just remember what your feet are standing on and who put you on that rock.
This is perfectly summed up in Psalm 56:1-4,
“1 Be gracious to me, O God, for people trample on me;
all day long foes oppress me;
2 my enemies trample on me all day long,
for many fight against me.
O Most High, 3 when I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.
4 In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I am not afraid;
what can flesh do to me?”
When I am afraid…I am not afraid. And in between that is trust and praise.
One Response
Sometimes faith mixed with fear was used to get God to act.
Joel 2:17 17 Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?