VIDEO

PODCAST

FAITH AND FEAR: TWO SIDES OF THE SAME FACULTY

Faith is not wishful thinking. It is the ability to imagine the best possible outcome and hold it steady until it manifests. Fear is the same mechanism—only reversed. It is imagination hijacked, rehearsing the worst possible outcome until it grows teeth and devours our peace.

Both are rooted in the same human faculty: focus. The difference lies not in power, but in direction. Fear is simply faith employed for evil.

THE CREATIVE FORCE OF THOUGHT

Thoughts are not innocuous. Our thoughts matter because our thoughts create matter. Every time we rehearse a scenario, we are re-affirming it—literally making it firm. This is why Scripture warns us not to be conformed to this world but transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2).

Paul is literally pointing to mind as the faculty of transformation, and mind is simply our directed focus.

When we refuse to lend attention to a circumstance, we sever the very force that sustains it. Suffering, then, is not an absolute—rather, it is an illusion sustained by our belief in its permanence.

Thus, both curse (suffering) and blessing (freedom) are products of our imagination.

JESUS ON FAITH

Jesus’ words pierce with precision:

“According to your faith [directed attention] it will be done to you” (Matthew 9:29).

Not according to your neighbour’s faith. Not according to fate, luck, or circumstance. But according to what you focus on, what you inwardly consent to as reality.

We are the operative power in our lives. To pretend otherwise is self-deception. And perhaps, if we are honest, we cling to the illusion of suffering because we secretly enjoy its drama. It is a kind of spiritual Stockholm syndrome.

Yet the gospel (good news) offers us freedom from this cycle.

ABRAHAM’S EXAMPLE

Romans 4:18–21 tells us that Abraham, though confronted with facts—his age, Sarah’s barrenness—“did not consider” them. That is, he purposefully ignored the facts and circumstances.

The Greek word used here, katanoeō, means “to consider attentively, fix one’s eyes or mind upon,” that is, “to fix one’s attention upon.” Abraham refused to lend focus to the natural limitations. Instead, he gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that what God had promised, He was also able to perform. This is how you walk on water instead of sinking below the waves.

This is faith: the discipline of imagination that anchors itself in God’s Word rather than appearances.

THE NARRATIVE WE NURTURE

Both faith and fear feed off a narrative. One is the good news Christ has already secured for us. The other is the counterfeit narrative the adversary whispers. We decide which story to nourish with our imagination, and whichever story we feed will grow.

In short, if you don’t like the role you are playing in life, or the movie you are featuring in, then change it!

DEVOTIONAL PRAYER

Lord, help me guide my imagination to side with You. Help me to not empower and feed fear in my life, and let my focus be harnessed by faith. May my thoughts create life, not death; peace, not torment; hope, not despair. Teach me to withdraw my attention from illusions of suffering and anchor my vision in Your promises. Amen.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

• In what areas of my life am I currently feeding fear by foolishly rehearsing negative outcomes?
• How does the truth of Matthew 9:29 challenge the way I think about my present circumstances?
• What “facts” am I tempted to consider instead of God’s promises, as Abraham once did?
• How can I practise withdrawing attention from illusions of suffering and redirecting it to God’s Word?
• If thoughts create matter, what reality am I shaping with the narrative I currently believe?