The Best of WTOnline

Reader Poll

What part of your life is most difficult to surrender to God? My finances My future My past My family My physical body My feeling of control View Results

 

Book Feature

Moving from fear to Faith

By Terri McFaddin

Fear can leave us paralyzed in the face of the enemy’s attack. There is no doubt that fear is one of Satan’s greatest tools in keeping us from experiencing God’s will for our lives.

Fear tells you in a thousand subtle ways that no matter how many times you try, you will fail. The voice of fear tells you there is no one who can save you from a terrible fate. Once you begin to believe the voice, you put into motion the psychological machinery that will work full time to usher you into the failure and destruction that Satan desires you to experience.

Fear can mask itself as a sudden illness, an accident or some other catastrophe. If fear is not overcome, it will cause you to self-destruct or quietly bow out of the plan that God has for your life.

According to the Word of God, the greatest weapon against fear is love. “There is no fear in love; but perfect love drives out fear” (1 John 4:18, NIV). The marvelous mystery of perfect love casting out fear is completely solved just a few verses earlier: “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:8, NIV). If it is true that God is love and that perfect love casts out fear, then it is God who casts out fear.

When love becomes more important than your own life, it becomes perfect love. Allow me to explain. Picture a woman who is afraid of water and cannot swim. She and her young child are walking by a lake. Suddenly the child trips and falls into the water. The woman’s love for that child will override her fear of water. Even though she cannot swim and there is no one to help her, she will jump into the water and attempt to save her child. Scripture tells us, “Love is as strong as death” (Song of Solomon 8:6, NIV). The woman cannot swim, but the strength of her love conquers her fears and stirs her faith. Without a strong love for God, it is not possible to develop a strong faith in God.

Only the love that comes from God can give you the power you need to crush your fears underfoot and allow you to reach your desired end. Human love is wonderful, but its power is limited. God’s love comes with a written guarantee that it will never run out. “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:5,6, NIV).

God uses the challenges we face to demonstrate the enduring power and faithfulness of His love. It is the indwelling power of God’s love that moves us toward greater faith. Love is the match we strike to cause our faith to burn brightly. As God shapes us into women of love and power, faith must become our way of life.

Excerpted from Only a Woman ©2001 by Terri McFadden. Used by permission of WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc. Excerpt may not be reproduced with prior written permission.