Why do I lose hope? Why do I lose faith? . . . You wanna know why? . . . Because of fear. Fear. AND Because my focus is in the wrong place. I fear that I messed something up, that I made a big mistake – even though, all along, I have been trying to do the right thing. Striving to do better. Striving to be better. I get confused and because I can’t see the way the Lord does, because I don’t have His vision, I get scared. Why can’t I remember that He has me?! “Fear not little children, for you are mine,” that is one of my most favorite scriptures. So why do I forget and let fear creep in and overtake me? Fear is not from God. Fear is from Satan, 100%.
Let’s do a contrasting exercise: FEAR VS FAITH
FEAR
What would happen if I chose to stay in fear?
I would continue to live in an anxious state. I would not smile much. I would not be very pleasant to be around. I would live in my head obsessing over it and not be available to help or teach or serve other people. I would remain selfish, unkind, less productive, not able to radiate God’s love and light to others. I would not feel like praying or reading my scriptures or even going to church. I would want to whine and complain often about all of it. My physical health would decline because I wouldn’t feel like working out and because I am stress eating chocolate. Eventually my financial health would decline because I have to now pay for all of my medical bills because my physical health declines. And now I have more to complain about to other people, who, btw, have long since stopped hanging around me because I am so unpleasant to be around, so now I am friendless and lonely too.
Can you see the slow spiral into hell that happens here?! Ah … this is Satan’s happy place! This is his summer dream. This is exactly what he relishes in and loves! He laughs with delight to see us trapped in the spiral of fear!
Now let’s look at faith.
FAITH
What would happen if I moved forward in faith?
My heart would be lighter. I would feel happiness and love inside. I would pray often and deeply with serious intent which would allow my relationship with my Heavenly Father to grow stronger and closer, allowing me to know His love better. And because I know it better, I can share it better and more easily with others. I would smile often and laugh easily and would be pleasant to be around. People would be able to see God’s light and love in my countenance and would want to know more about it. I would read my scriptures and ponder and study their meanings, allowing me to become more knowledgeable of God’s ways and mysteries. I would be present and available to others and my stress levels would be low. I would be kind and helpful and funny and loving to everyone around me. My heart would be full and my hope for the future would be bright and it wouldn’t even mean that I would need to know what the future was, I would just know that it was going to be good and okay because I know that God is in control here and knows me and knows who I am and knows what I desire and knows my heart and knows what is best for me and loves me enough to help me become the best I can be.
Hmmm … not hard to see the contrast here, is it? I wonder which I should choose (said sarcastically, ha ha).
I do get to choose, btw. I know that. Yes, I messed up with something in my life, even though I was trying so hard to stick to what I had chosen for myself. Why it is so hard for me and why do I keep failing? I don’t know. I plead for Heavenly Father’s help in it always, and sometimes I still fail. I don’t know why. I don’t have the reasons or understanding. But I do know that I don’t have to live in fear because of it. It’s okay that I have some fear, because I am scared, but I have to hand that over to God and be humble and choose to hang on to what I know, faith. I have to move in faith. That is what I want and that is what I can choose. I love that we have a Heavenly Father who lets us choose. His heart and arms are ALWAYS open to us, we just have to choose it.
Forever grateful!
