From the moment you took your first breath, to the moment you take your last, life has and will continue to produce complications and setbacks. Situations where one is manipulated into reacting out of a place of distress or panic. We call this FEAR! However, this is not the only notion produced throughout our lives. Hopefulness, confidence, and security in the face of whatever life happens to serve you. We call this FAITH!

Both faith and fear are powerful forces that have shaped nations and destinies. The duality between them is that although different, these two notions are of the same nature. One might say two sides of the same coin. For you cannot have one without the other. Although similar, one is clearly more powerful than the other, yet the tradeoff is that it is harder to obtain and maintain.

FAITH

The substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. A ray of light that somehow manages to cut through the darkness. Depending on how much faith you have determines how much of the darkness is overthrown. An intangible powerhouse of a force that has the ability to empower people to do any and everything they believe they can. The soft-spoken antithesis to fear, faith truly does speak softly but carries a big stick.

 Faith is quiet, faith is easily overlooked. In truly uncomfortable situations, a lot of people so easily lose sight of their faith. We become broken, disconnected, and lost as that light becomes less visible in the darkness. However, we are never truly without faith. I want to encourage you to remember that your faith can be disrupted, but never truly destroyed. If anything, it just shifts. Faith is so easily discarded because we are so fixated on how loud the disruption is.

A big part of my healing these past two years has been discipline. Setting goals for myself and doing my best to stick to them. Well, when I made the decision to start this blog, I gave myself a set time frame by which I wanted to adhere to in regard to the launch. With every passing day the light became dimmer and dimmer as I was solely focused on the doubt, anxiety, and fear. The fear of being a failure was taking the life out of this endeavor before it even had a chance to start.

Days before my deadline I found the strength to be still and quiet my soul. By doing so I was able to find the light again and isolate that familiar tune. I had regained faith in myself and because of it I was able to accomplish my goal. Should you be in a situation where you find yourself pressed by whatever, I want to encourage you to take a moment to find the strength to be still and try your best to find the light that has been eluding you for one reason or another.

FEAR

The feeling of anxiety concerning the outcome of a situation or maybe the safety and wellbeing of you or someone else. A large overbearing cloud that brings with it sudden flashes of irrationalities and boisterous bellows of anxiety. The more connected you are to a situation the darker everything seems and the louder your anxiety becomes. Such a force has crippled people physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and everything in between. Fear is like the token loudmouth ruffian, first to fire but most times first to fall.

Unlike faith, fear is very loud and expressive. Often made the center of attention, fear captivates people in a way that so few things can. Fear has to overtake you because ultimately fear is manufactured therefore it’s not built to last. One can lose faith, meaning it can be reacquired, yet one stops being afraid, meaning that which had you afraid no longer exists to you. Fear has to get you quick because the will of mankind is designed to purge such nonsense unless a hold is put on.

As stated earlier this blog almost didn’t exist as I was so afraid of failing. The problem with this fear was that it was irrational. Opportunistic and deliberate the fear preyed on my self confidence and had me thinking that what I had to share wasn’t good enough. Unfortunately, because of this I began to doubt myself hard and give priority to everything else to give myself an excuse not to face my fears.

I was so afraid that not even the encouraging words of others had any luck moving me towards my goal. Eventually though I got to a place where I was tired of being afraid and I had to do my best to quiet my soul and find the strength in myself to move forward. I was able to face my fear and overcome it as my blog is growing by the week. Remember that fear is a temporary notion that can cause permanent damage, however it can not stop you unless you let it.

In Closing

Faith is quiet, yet faith can not completely be silenced. Fear is loud; however, its presence is on a timer. These two forces fight for residence in our lives. We must do our best not to lose sight of the light and tune our ears to the subtle hymn of hope, for this is faith. Likewise, we must do our best not to entertain the manipulative roar of fear. Understand that although connected, faith will always win out over fear in the long run. For fear comes from within, but faith comes from above. Go in good faith and be blessed. You Got This!!!

Faith over Fear video: https://youtu.be/G_TVInXQqc8