Choosing Faith Over Fear

We hear people in the Christian sphere speak of having faith over fear so often that sometimes we become immune to the reality of that exact task. But when life gets hard, when life gets scary, it is so important to fully submit and do just that: choose faith over fear.

I’m currently having to process this idea right now. I feel like I’ve had to do this exact thing multiple times this past year. But right now, I’d be lying if I said it was easy. Just because I’ve had the practice this year, possibly for this exact reason, doesn’t make choosing faith over fear easy.

Philippians 4:6-7 reminds me, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

Jesus tells us in Matthew, “Don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

These are all reminders of why we should not fear. It is pointless. Tomorrow will bring more issues, today gives us enough stress. Instead, pray. Because God will give us peace.

Psalms 18:2 reminds me, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.”

Lamentations 3:23 reminds me, “Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.”

God is so faithful in his promises. He has been and the whole Bible is a testament to that. But if I stop and look at my own life--or even just this last year, I can see his faithfulness abounding.

In early April, we found out that my placenta was low and that I was at risk for a difficult pregnancy. We also learned that our baby might have some serious developmental impairments--she had a mark on her heart that many kids with Down Syndrome have, and since we chose not to do any genetic testing, we would not know until she was born if she did or not.

Eight weeks later, at a follow up appointment, we saw that my placenta had corrected. The mark on her heart was gone too. But, her head was measuring small--another sign that she might have some type of developmental delays.

Throughout both of these situations, I did the only thing I could--I prayed. Daily; sometimes every minute. I prayed for strength to handle whatever might come. I prayed for the clarity to see God’s plan for all of this. I prayed for her to be developmentally typical. I prayed that if she wasn’t, that my husband and I would beat the odds and be able to stay together. I prayed for peace. I prayed. Constantly.

And through these experiences, I saw God’s faithfulness. He brought a sense of calm and peace over my life. He allowed me to be okay with not being okay. He let me cry when I needed to cry. But he also let me know he was there, working his miraculous plans throughout my life.

But the biggest thing God did for me? He helped me to have faith in him. I would be reminded daily that my life and the life of my unborn baby girl was not in my hands, but his. His plan is perfect, no matter what it looked like. It is designed just for me and my family. He gave me peace in the waiting, calm in the storm.

So now, in this new storm; this medical uncertainty I am facing, I am asking God once again to give me strength to get through this, for peace in the waiting, and to calm the storm forming in my mind.

Abnormal results. A doctor going on vacation. The soonest appointment more than a month away. This is all a recipe for fear, stress, worry, and despair. But I need to remember the faithfulness he has shown my family and me this year. Because without remembering, the fear takes over and the faith jumps in the back seat

Faith over fear. It might sound like Christianese, but it is something so inherently important to actively seek. In this storm, in this waiting, in this uncertainty, I have to make that choice.

Right now, I choose faith instead of fear.

Author’s note: This was written when I received my first test results in October. Final results were what we were hoping for—nothing to worry about. However, I chose to post this today, because of the uncertainty we face every day in the face of the world as it stands. We never know what our day will look like, what struggles we might face, and what circumstances might become, but the fact remains that God wants us to lean into Him. So today, in the face of a multitude of other uncertainties, I choose to lean into God and let him worry about the details.