Now Faith

             Now faith is the certainty of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1) 

                    This was recently the verse of the day at Biblegateway.com. It’s a favorite verse for many, and I’ve written about it more than once, but writing about it after yesterday’s discussion of fear seems to me to be supremely appropriate. In yesterday’s post, I noted that having a fear involves being afraid even when one does not see anything of which to be afraid. One’s life is at least influenced, if not dominated, by the possibility that the thing feared will appear or occur. And by definition, the thing feared is negative. One does not generally fear something one wants to happen. In other words, now fear is the certainty of things hoped against, a proof of things not seen and not desired.

                    Fear and faith are two sides of the same coin. Like the archetypical pessimist, the one who fears sees the glass as half-empty (which is a negative thing), while the one with faith sees it, like the optimist, as half-full (which is a positive thing.)

                    When you fear, you are separated from God. You make the thing feared or the fear itself your god. You may, in fact, demonize God either because He brings these things into your life, or He doesn’t protect you from them. When you have faith, you connect with God because you look to Him as your Provider.