Make faith your companion – Part 1

Believers are required to always live by faith in spite of challenging situations and circumstances that confront them. Saved and sustained in the Kingdom by faith, they must constantly keep this virtue alive. Reason: faith produces conviction, confidence and courage that make believers conquerors in the battles of life. Full of faith in God after his anointing by Samuel, David fought and defeated Goliath, the Philistine giant whom Saul and all Israel feared, without a sword or spear.

But soon, his faith in God began to dwindle. This promptly gave way to fear of man, leading David to tell a lie to obtain a sword from Ahimelech. He also feigned madness to escape danger. This underscores the indispensability of a growing lifetime faith in believers. With or without a sword, money, support or opposition, faith in God always wins the victory. Believers must make absolute faith in God an indispensable lifetime companion and exercise it every day, as well as in every situation.

The fear of man will lead to faithlessness, foolishness and a fall. Although saved, separated, beloved, righteous, upright, prayerful, trusting and celebrated, David failed miserably here. Anytime the believer leaves the platform of faith, he falls. While the records of his or other saints’ moral failures prove the Scripture was inspired by God, Who will not gloss over anyone’s sin irrespective of their previous spiritual attainments, these must not be taken as the standard to be followed by any believer. It is obvious that fear leads to compromise, while confidence in God will always pull the believer through challenges and hardship.

The fury of man calls for courage on the part of the believer. When Joshua’s God-given task of leading the children of Israel to possess the Promised Land involved conquering seven mightier nations, he was admonished to “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee” (Deuteronomy 31:6). This promise is also for present-day believers, who are facing challenges to their faith. Courage is required to keep God’s commandments amidst opposition and remain undaunted and uncompromising. Courage, strength of character, prayer and knowledge of His word, will dispel fear of persecutors, who operate in the arms of flesh. Besides, fear of ridicule, church discipline or loss of job or any other privilege should not make any heaven-minded believer, who values his soul and relationship with God to modify the truth, as David did.

Rather than cowardly abandoning a duty post, family and business for fear of opposition or unexpected hardship, the believer should constantly focus on the Lord for the requisite courage to weather the storms and maintain his conviction in God’s word and purpose for his life. Nehemiah demonstrated this kind of courage and overcame his detractors. Truly, “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe” (Proverbs 29:25). The fear of man that barred thousands of the children of Israel from entering the Promised Land is still hindering many more from entering heaven today. This monster caused Saul’s disobedience and rejection by God. Fear makes believers to forget God and His promises to protect, deliver and provide for their needs. God calls us to a life of courage, which is firmly founded on salvation and strengthened by sanctification experience and steadfastness of conviction.

Further Reading (King James Version): 1 Samuel 21:10, 12; 17:32,39,45,47; Amos 3:2; Psalm 56:1-4; Deuteronomy 31:6,8; 1:6,7,9; 2 Chronicles 32:7,8; Psalms 3:6,8; 27:1-3; Nehemiah 6:11; Proverbs 29:25; 1 Samuel 15:24,26; Isaiah 51:12,13; Proverbs 28:1; 1 Samuel 21:8-13; 22: 13 – 19, 22; 27: 1 – 3, 11; 29: 3 – 5; Isaiah 57: 11, 12; Revelation 21:27; 22:15; 1 Kings 13:4; 1 Samuel 23:25-27; 26:2,7,12; 2 Kings 7:5-7; 19:7,35; Psalm 27: 5 – 8; 112:6,7; Jeremiah 36: 26 – 30; 2 Timothy 4:18.