Many Christians claim to have faith and pray in faith. But their actions does not reflect any faith. Faith always involves action that shows how much we trust in God having no fear of the situations and troubles. In this post we will explore how fear is a sign that we have no faith which will eventually lead us into trusting men rather than God.
And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How [is it] that you have no faith?”
Mark 4:37-40
When situations are against us, even when the Lord is with us, if we are fearful of those situations, we have no faith. When a violent storm arose on the sea, His disciples were afraid of it in spite of the Lord being on the boat. If you are afraid of the situation, you have no faith. Fear is the first sign of having no faith.
Fearful don’t trust God
“But I will deliver you in that day,” says the LORD, “and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you [are] afraid. For I will surely deliver you, and you shall not fall by the sword; but your life shall be as a prize to you, because you have put your trust in Me,” says the LORD.’ ”
Jer 39:17-18
‘Fear’ by itself is not mentioned as a sin anywhere in the Scriptures. However, where we place our trust and hope matters.
In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
Ps 56:11
When we fear, we need to place our trust in God and hope for deliverance from Him. If we place our trust in God, we will no longer fear.
But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
Rev 21:8
This is why cowards end up in second death because they lack the courage to face their difficult situations since they don’t trust God that He will deliver them.
Those who don’t trust God but men are cursed
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, [And] rely on horses, Who trust in chariots because [they are] many, And in horsemen because they are very strong, But who do not look to the Holy One of Israel, Nor seek the LORD! … Now the Egyptians [are] men, and not God; And their horses are flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD stretches out His hand, Both he who helps will fall, And he who is helped will fall down; They all will perish together.
Isa 31:1,3
As we read above, God is against Judah for going to Egypt for help. God also declares that those who help and those who received help – both will fall and perish together.
Thus says the LORD: “Cursed [is] the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the LORD. … Blessed [is] the man who trusts in the LORD, And whose hope is the LORD.
Jer 17:5,7
If anyone places their trust in men or in worldly means for deliverance rather than trusting God, as in Jeremiah, these are the people whose hearts had departed from the LORD and they are cursed. As in Psalms 118:8-9, it is better to trust in the LORD rather than placing our confidence in men.
Sinking right before Jesus
And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind [was] boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out [His] hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Matt 14:28-31
In the above event, we can see that there was wind and the boat was tossed by waves. Peter was asking the Lord if he can walk on water. The Lord granted his request to walk on water. Peter stepped out of the boat and started walking on the water. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and immediately he started sinking. It is important to note that he sank right before Jesus. We can pray to God asking for something we need. God can answer our prayers. But if we are afraid of the situations like the wind and the waves, we will sink right before Jesus.
Our faith in God must be unshakeable by our situations. Faith is so important that many people think it is just believing. Praying in faith does not mean mere prayer but acting as if God had already answered our prayers. Faith always involves action. As James wrote, faith without works is dead (Jas 2:26) and doubters never get anything from God (Jas 1:6-8). If we have faith that God had already answered our prayers, we will no longer be afraid of any situation that says otherwise and we will act as if we already received it from the Lord.
If we are going to a church in order to pray for rain on a severe drought in hot summer, with no sign of any rain, going without an umbrella shows you don’t believe that God is going to give you rain.
Conclusion
Fear is a sign that we lack faith. ‘Fear’ by itself is not mentioned as a sin anywhere in the Scriptures. However, when we fear, we must place our trust in God and hope that He will deliver us. If we don’t place our trust in God but trust in men, God calls us as cursed. If we become frightened by the situation, we show that we have no faith and can sink even before Jesus.
