Fear & Doubt

Welcome back!

It has been a great journey from where we have started (Feeding of the 5000) to where we are today in this series of articles on Beckoned to walk on water!. In Part five of this series, we take a look at how fear gripped the heart of the disciple, Peter and left doubt in his mind. In this series of articles, we have so far taken a look at Before the storm!, Tossed about by the waves!, Courage! and Beckoned to walk on water!. Today, we take a look at Matthew 14: 31.

Matthew 14:29-31

²⁹ “Come!” answered Jesus. So Peter got out of the boat and started walking on the water to Jesus. ³⁰ But when he noticed the strong wind, he was afraid and started to sink down in the water. “Save me, Lord!” he cried. ³¹ At once Jesus reached out and grabbed hold of him and said, “What little faith you have! Why did you doubt?”

This is the BIG topic…

Talking about fear & doubt leads to many questions, such as:

• The Love of God?
• The purpose of God?
• Who God is in our lives?

Fear projects many things, such as lies, frustration, and disloyalty.

Fear brings in many topics, such as:

• Who the presence of God is?
• Who created God?
• Who is God?

Fear in our hearts brings many questions to our minds. It teaches us the person of God, who made us.

Fear in our hearts changes everything!

What is “Fear”?

-Fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain or a threat. 

-Fear is a feeling of agitation and anxiety caused by the presence or imminence of danger.

-The devil fills your heart with fear. He puts a lot of misunderstanding in your heart. 

-Fear is the opposite of faith. It’s what you put in your heart instead of faith.

Jesus says in Matthew 17:20 that if you have faith as big as a mustard seed, you can say to this hill, go from here to there and it will go. In His statement, your faith is being compared to the size of a mustard seed which is the smallest of all seeds. If you have faith as big as that seed, you could remove the fear in your heart with boldness. 

Timidity is our problem!

Fear and faith do not coexist with each other in us. You will find that most of the time, we have fear in our heart, and not faith. We put fear in our heart based on what we see or are exposed to. Because we do not see the things of the spirit, we tend to fear what we see in the natural instead of trusting the Lord regardless of what our natural senses tells us.

But the Lord is saying, leave your burdens on me; I will carry them for you. I will resolve your problems , just concentrate on my church building. Have faith in me! Although you cannot see me, I do exist. Put your trust in me and I will let your worries be my worries. I will resurrect you from your grave of hiding and put you on a pedestal for the world to see. Resurrect from your problems and put faith in you. You cannot have fear in you, if you have faith. If fear and faith cannot coexist with each other in us, who do we have in us, then?

“Coexist” means:

• to exist together at the same time or in the same place.
• to exist together in peace.

Do we actually have faith in us, as we are always in fear? That is the big question that God is asking you. 

Do you have faith in you, as you live in fear?

Do we ever have faith?

Does faith ever exist in us?

How do you live without faith?

Every believer presumes that once they believe in God and in His Son, Jesus Christ, they automatically have faith in their heart, but it is not so. If you want to believe in God and have faith in Him, you have to believe in His Word, which is Jesus Christ. You cannot love God and hate His Word [which is love]. Love is the greatest Commandment Matthew 22:36-40. We have to love each other in faith. You cannot love God and hate your brother; that is hypocrisy. You should love all, and that is what Jesus stands for – loving one another.

Jesus is saying, to the same disciples (those who walk with him everyday) who could not drive out the demon in Matthew 17:17-20 that, how unbelieving and wrong you people are! I do not take my love from you, because you wronged me, but I keep you safe under my wing so that I can keep you. I do not hold grudge against you, but I prepare you for my kingdom.

 Jesus is talking about love here, in your heart. Let your light shine in darkened places. In verse 19 of Matthew 17:17-20 the disciples inquired of Jesus in private (held a conversation with Him), why they could not drive out the demon. They inquired privately, and not in public as their faith would be questioned. Jesus’ reply was, “It was because you do not have enough faith”.

“Enough” means:

• (as and adjective) Sufficient to meet a need or satisfy a desire; adequate
• sufficient to answer a need, demand, supposition, or requirement; adequate

He then assures them that if they have faith as big as the smallest seed among all seed, they would move mountains. In this seed is greatness. You do not need faith as big as the world, just enough! If the size of faith required is as big as a mustard seed, then what was the size of faith the disciples had in their heart? That is the BIG question!

Your faith determines your fear! Do we have faith at all in God? I do not think so, because if we do, we would not be questioning Him everyday on certain issues. We love Him just as we are. Loving Him is a great asset! We are not loving Him because we feel so. It is because he loved you first. It is your obligation to love him too and to believe in Him.

Will you believe in Him and not fear the world? 

Do you have faith in the Lord?

Jesus is saying, he does not coexist with the enemy who puts fear in you. Can you say you have faith in God? Jesus is saying that if you have faith in Him, you will not doubt Him. Because you do not have faith in Him, you doubt Him and the authority He has given you (empowered you with). You can change the World with this authority (power), but you have allowed fear in your heart which is dominating you instead of the love God has placed in you.

Do not doubt the Lord, but trust and believe in Him to do all things. Peter embraced the faith and started walking on the water; commanding nature until he turned back or took his focus off God to the strong wind blowing. He lost his faith by replacing it with the fear of the strong wind, then he started to sink down in the water. The authority Peter held was exchanged with that of the enemy. Now the storm is in control of Peter’s life.

Do you serve God with all your heart? How do you serve the Lord with all our hearts? 

By trusting Him with all our heart. You cannot serve Him without trusting Him. Trust is the issue here! Once you trust Him, regardless of the situation in your life, you will always hold on to hope. 

Fear is gripping your heart. It is in control of your heart.

Let go of your fear and have faith in the Lord!

Let go of your fear and let God in!

I pray that the love of God will take a seat in your heart, for fear not hold any place in it. May the good Lord showers you with His blessings and love. Great is He who lives in us. His mercies are new every morning. May the grace of our Lord be with you. Amen

Written by 

Eunice Forson

Now that we’ve finished talking about how fear caused Peter to change the direction of his course and doubt Jesus, I’ll share with you in the last post of this series “exercising the faith trip”.

Stay tuned for post #6, the last in the series on Monday.

In case you missed any of the previous posts in this series…

During our Beckoned to walk on water blog series over the past 3 weeks, we’ve covered…

Introduction to series: Beckoned to walk on water!

Blog Post 1: Before the storm!

Blog Post 2: Tossed about by the waves!

Blog Post 3: Courage!

Blog Post 4: Beckoned to walk on water!