Unfinished Faith: Relearning God.

The bit where I introduce:

Let’s be honest at the moment with the recent fuel crisis and the Covid pandemic, many people are living in fear or with more fear. This week I want to explore when we are fearful, does our faith go out the window? Do we trust the promises of God but still live with fear? Is our faith head knowledge that actually doesn’t manifest in our lives when it counts?

Often when tragedies strike, like floods or a bushfire we see communities come together, but when there’s a hint of a shortage our brains flip and we switch to survival mode and inevitably we exercise and access the part of our brain that stores fear ( amygdala) and sometimes it begins to takes over. 

In the Bible approximately 365 times it says “Do not fear”, a verse for every day of the year literally, why do we start impulse buying fuel and hoarding toilet paper?

Because fear is human. It’s fast, instinctive, protective. But faith… faith is slower. It requires trust. It asks us to pause, to remember, to actively choose in that singular moment.

 I dont doubt many of us genuinely believe God is a provider, protector, and present. We quote it, teach it, even encourage others with it. But when uncertainty becomes personal, when it affects our security, our families, our future, our health fear often overrides what we “know.”

This isn’t hypocrisy. It’s humanity.

The deeper issue isn’t fear, it’s what we believe God is like in the moment fear hits.

Our response to crisis often exposes our “functional” theology, what we truly believe about God when it matters, when something hits and really affects us, who do you think God is to you right in the midst of fear? 

Big question!

The bit where I refer to the bible: and ask a few rhetorical questions:

2 Tim 1:7 the quote we’ve all said and sung (in the 90s)

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” 

In that verse, we’re reminded that fear, at least the kind that dominates, controls, and unravels us is not from God. Instead, He gives us:

power (the ability to stand firm),

 love (which shifts us outward instead of inward), 

and a sound mind (clarity over chaos).

Notice that: a sound mind. Fear clouds. It catastrophises. It narrows our thinking to worst-case scenarios and often most associated with trauma. Trust, however, widens perspective. It allows us to act wisely, not react impulsively. Trust doesn’t always feel strong. Sometimes it looks like very small, quiet decisions:

choosing not to panic-buy when others are,

choosing generosity when scarcity feels louder,

choosing prayer before action,

choosing to sit in discomfort rather than immediately fix it,

Trust is not the absence of fear, it’s the decision to anchor somewhere deeper than it. Where is that for you? Is it your faith/ beliefs? And here’s the uncomfortable truth i think we at times can struggle with (me included) We often trust God with our eternity, but struggle to trust Him with our tomorrows.

We say, “He’s saved me,” but wrestle to believe, “He will sustain me.”

 That is where our inner conflict exists. In amongst our daily lives, think about this: Is our trust in those minor decisions compatible with our bigger announcements of faith in church, in our prayer times, in our worship on Sundays for some?

When fear rises and it will, what I’m encouraging in my musings isn’t to suppress it or pretend it’s not there. It’s to bring it into the presence of God and let His enduring truth interrupt it.

 I’ve prayed it so many times…

“God, this feels uncertain. I feel the pull to control, to grasp, to panic… but I choose to trust You here.”

The bit where you get to think about stuff: questions for the week: 

When I feel afraid, what do my reactions reveal about what I believe God to be like in that for me?

In what areas of my life do I find it hardest to trust God with practical, everyday provision?

What is one small, concrete way I can practice trust over fear this week and model for someone else?