From the Pulpit: Fear not faith - An unclear vision of future comes from fear
Russia has invaded Ukraine. That’s scary. There has been a lot in the last year or two that has created a foundation of fear. I find that I have struggled with indecision, wavering back and forth, and not sure how to plan for the future because everything ahead seems a little blurry. Instead of living, I have felt at times that I’m just existing. I don’t want that. I know you don’t either.
In the gospel of Matthew chapter 6, Jesus says,“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”
What we see determines the health of our lives. What we focus on, what we perceive, or what we fix our eyes upon affects our vision of the future. If what we fill our thoughts with through perception is bad then our life will be full of darkness.
Have you noticed over the last few years that people keep looking at the same facts but come up with different interpretations? What do people see? What do they focus on? The slope of negativity is a slippery one and we can quickly loose traction.
That is the power of fear. Fear leads to grumbling and the “Blame Game”. It puts us on a path of darkness instead of life. In Isaiah 8:12 the prophet says, “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread.” We do have a choice of what to focus on.
What is a path we can focus on that leads to hope and a clear vision of the future?
In the book of Jeremiah we see God’s words comforting the Jewish people who have been taken into exile and ruled by foreigners. They longed for a clear vision of the future. They longed for a release from the darkness. Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Confidence and the strength comes from the promises of God. That is what we fix our eyes on. God’s Word enters the lamp of our body, making it full of light. We face the future in faith, not with fear.
