Leading The Way

Guest (Female): The ebbs and flows of faith along life's path. From Dr. Michael Youssef.

Dr. Michael Youssef: When faith is up, fear is down. And when faith is down, fear is up. Proverbs 29:25, Solomon understood this seesaw principle of faith and fear. Listen to what he said. Fear of man will prove to be a snare. But whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.

Guest (Male): Life can take you from one extreme to another, sometimes in an instant. I can think of many days when faith and courage seemed to overflow. And then life steps in, ushering in fear and cowardice. Thank you for joining listeners from all across the globe for Leading the Way, featuring the solid truth-filled teaching of longtime pastor and author Dr. Michael Youssef.

Today, a timely word of challenge and encouragement from Dr. Youssef about not letting the seesaw of faith and fear hijack your life. Listen along with me to today's challenging Leading the Way audio message.

Dr. Michael Youssef: Paul Simon has a song that goes something like this: I am a rock, I am an island. And the rock feels no pain, and the island never cries. In many ways, he really speaks for our culture. And he speaks for many people in our culture who do not know how to conquer fear in their lives, so they mask it.

And the way they mask their fear is by covering it up in a variety of ways. Some try to appear tough. Others appear courageous. Others, they try to be strong and self-confident. It's all covering up for their inability or their not knowing how to conquer fear in their life. But you must understand that every one of us without exception, every one of us at some point, at some time, somewhere, we have gone through fear. We've experienced fear.

It doesn't matter. Your circumstances might be different now from somebody else, but we all have been through it. And that's the first thing you need to acknowledge. In many ways, you must understand fear as a double-edged sword. It can be destructive, or God can use it to fulfill His purpose in your life. It can be a corroding to your soul, or it can be a blessing to you.

It can hold you back in a mental prison, or fear can be that sword that cuts the ropes that are holding you back and sets you free to soar on the arms of faith. It can be intimidating to you and intimidating you into ineffectiveness, or it can help you grow in the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In the last message, we saw how the Lord Jesus Christ wanted to teach His disciples first and foremost a vitally important lesson in their walk with Him, and that is the lesson of faith.

That's what God is interested in. We saw that Jesus' number one concern for His disciples and for all of His disciples who are right here is that they grow in faith. What does that mean? We saw that it means complete trust in Him. It means an absolute obedience to His word. It means growing up in the faith in total surrender to Him, even if the circumstances do not make sense in your life and mine.

And fear is the one thing that's going to hold you back from growing in the faith. And Jesus knew that. Let me illustrate what I'm talking about. Some time ago, I learned that the reason why so many people are afraid of flying despite of the statistics, the overwhelming statistics that you are safer on an airplane than you are in your car or even in your bathtub, believe it or not.

But why is it then that people are fearful of flying? The root reason for that fear is that once they leave the ground, they feel a loss of control. Loss of control can cause you more fear and more terror than you can imagine. For that same reason, there are so many believers who have a hard time surrendering control to the Lord.

Because they want to feel in control. There's something insecure about losing control. And fear keeps them from soaring on the wings of faith. So what do they do? They try to put their trust in tangible things, the things that they can see, the things that they can have. Whether it be accumulation or bank accounts or statement of net worth, they want to place their trust in some real estate, in some material, in some monetary securities.

Even they want to put their confidence in their abilities or their qualifications. Something that they can hold onto other than surrender control to the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you know the number one reason why the vast majority of born-again Christian believers never tithe, never give offering on top of tithe to the Lord? The number one reason is fear.

They think that if they tithe and they give that money away to the Lord, what if I lose my job? Or what if I lose my money? What if this happened or that happens? And what is happening, just like the person who's mentally aware of the fact that he's safer on a plane than in a car, they are mentally aware, they are theologically aware that God is their provider, that God is their blesser, that God is their protector.

God is the one who gives them breath to wake up in the morning. God is the one who gives them energy to make wealth as the scripture said. But they are afraid to trust Him with their money, with their offering, with their tithe. Now here's something you must understand about faith. I learned that the hard way. Faith works the same way—I'm talking about daily faith, and I'm going to distinguish that from saving faith in a minute.

Daily faith works the same way as you work a muscle. I know from firsthand experience. If I don't work my muscles, they atrophy all the time. And you've got to be at it, and you go at it. Now some people make a decision they're going to work out. They're going to really tone up and they're going to really look good, and so they go work out. And their first day, second day, third day, nothing is happening, and they give up.

They think they want to grow muscles overnight. It doesn't work that way. It takes long, hard work day in and day out, and day in and day out before you even begin to experience the results. Matthew chapter 8 beginning at verse 23, I'm going to show you Jesus' primary concern for every one of His children. Verse 26 particularly, and if you get nothing out of this message but that one verse, you'll be blessed.

Verse 26, I explained to you in the last message how we all would have loved Jesus to stop the storm first and then teach the disciples the lesson. I want Him to stop the storms in my life first, then teach me the lesson. We all do that. But He didn't, for a reason. And here's what He said: "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Little faith, so afraid. Little faith, so afraid.

The word little is to faith as the same word so is to fear. Because when there is little faith, there is much fear. "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Let me illustrate this another way. As kids, we all played on the seesaw. You do that to fear, okay? Because whenever faith is down, fear is up. And when you reverse it, faith is up, fear is down.

Whenever faith rises, fear falls. And whenever fear rises, faith falls. It's that simple. Little faith versus much fear. "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Memorize that. It works that way in everyday life. When faith is at 100%, fear is at 0%. Well, if faith is at 80%, then fear is what? 20%. You passed math. When faith is at 20%, fear is at 80%.

You get the point. The word little relates to faith as the word so relates to fear. The good news is this: Even in those precious words from the mouth of the Lord Jesus, there is an implication that fear can never dominate faith, that fear can never undercut faith, that fear can never overwhelm faith, that fear can never reduce faith, that fear can never damage faith, that no matter how frightening your situation may be, no matter how terrifying your circumstances are, no matter how alarming your surrounding conditions may be, you can never destroy faith.

The only power that fear has for a child of God, for a daughter of the living God and a son of the living God, the only power that fear has is that it's able to shine the light on the condition of your faith. Now some people don't want to hear that, but that's reality. By faith, the Lord Jesus meant a complete trust in Him, a complete surrender to Him, a conviction of His trustworthiness and the trustworthiness of His promises.

A confidence in His loving purpose in your life, a complete resting on Him in the middle of the storm, a total trust in His sovereign control of your life. That's what Jesus meant by faith. That's what He meant by trusting Him. Trust Him that no matter what happens in your life, He is never sitting up in heaven and looking down there and said, "Whoops, how did that happen? How did you get here?" No way.

No way. You trust Him to the point of knowing so confidently every moment of every waking moment of every day, He never says, "Whoa, how did that slip by me? How did this happen to you? Goodness, what?" No, no, no, no. I just got an email from a partner of Leading the Way in Chicago, literally brought tears to my eyes. And this faithful brother was explaining to me, and I'm telling you, he has been faithful in the tough time and in the hard time and in the good times.

He's always been faithful. He said, "I lost my job." It was a huge job. And he said, "My goodness, I'll never be able to find a job like this." And he trusted God. Within two weeks, he had a better job with higher pay and better hours and everything else. And somebody in this church, the same thing happened. When they lost a job, it was eliminated, big job. But then within two weeks, God provided in a way that this wonderful steward of God never imagined.

Better time, better hours, better pay, better everything else. Brother, this is not a sales talk. This is a confidence in the God who keeps His promises and never goes back on His word. In fact, I am personally convinced that whether it gets tougher or harder or not, we're going to be seeing more and more testimonies of the faithfulness of God to His faithful children, that we're going to see it over and over and over again.

I don't know if all of these precious faithful people that I heard from in the last few weeks have always had faith up 100%. I don't know. I doubt it personally. Most likely was not. Why? Because for all of us, in our daily faith, our daily faith ebbs and flows. Our daily faith grows weak and waxes strong. Our daily faith cools down and heats up. I don't know anybody who has his daily or her daily faith at 100% level all the time.

Remember I told you in the last message how it was dark in the middle of the night, in the middle of the waters, and these disciples were caught by surprise when their faith was down. You say, what should have had their faith up? Very simply, I point to you Mark chapter 4 verse 35. When Mark was recording this incident, he said Jesus said to the disciples, "Let's get in the boat and go to the other side."

That in itself should be an ironclad assurance and confidence builder knowing that they will have a safe arrival. That in itself should be securing to them, assuring to them, that He who began a good work is able to bring it to completion. Now I want to explain to you the difference between saving faith and daily faith. Now they work the same way, but they are different.

How did you become saved? If you're not saved, let me tell you how to become saved. You come to the Lord Jesus and say, "Lord, I'm a sinner, I'm heading straight for judgment, but You're the Savior who died on the cross and shed Your blood so that whosoever would come to You would receive salvation, whoever comes to You receives forgiveness of sins, whoever comes to You receives eternal life."

And by that, you have exercised faith in the living God. And at that moment, you receive peace, you receive confidence, you receive the assurance that you are saved eternally, that whenever you close your eyes in death, you will see Jesus face to face. What gave you that confidence? What gave you that assurance? Trusting in the promise of God, in the word of God. "Whoever comes to Me," Jesus said, "I'll never let go. Whomever the Father gives Me, I lose none."

And you came with confidence. You're filled with confidence. God came to dwell on you, on the inside of you in the person of His Holy Spirit. And you begin living your daily life. Now in your daily life, you walk by faith. You're saved by faith, why would you walk by sight? And so what happens when you need daily faith? And every single one of us needs daily faith to walk by trust in the same God who eternally saved you.

The same God who eternally redeemed you, the same God who paid with His precious blood so that you can be eternally saved. That same God is going to take hold of you to protect you, to walk with you until your time is up. So when you go through a fearful time, you go through a frightening time, you will immediately take hold of the promise of God. "Lord, You promised. Your word said."

And that moment, you are filled with peace in your heart. That moment, you have put your trust in the trustworthiness of God who keeps His word. And that trustworthiness fills your heart. Why? Because you trusted in His promises. You have honored Him by trusting Him. I know when faith is up, fear is down. And when faith is down, fear is up. Proverbs 29:25, Solomon understood this seesaw principle of faith and fear.

Listen to what he said. "Fear of man will prove to be a snare. Ah, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe." Solomon is saying faith or trust in God is the trigger mechanism that activates God's blessings in your life, that activates God's working in your life, that activates God's gift of faith in your life. But listen to me very carefully. Truth will not become operative in your life or my life until we appropriate it.

Truth will not become operative until we believe it. There's no use saying, "Well, I believe it," but have you acted upon it? Have you taken a step of faith? Have you taken a risk of faith? Have you said, "God, I trust You and I'm going to do something to prove my trust in You"? Let me illustrate it this way. If I have a rich uncle and he's a trustworthy person, keeps his word, and he says to me, "Michael, if you ever need something, all you need to do is just pick up the phone and call me."

Well, I get into a situation I need something from him, and I know that he's the only one who can meet that need. What do I do? I can pick up that phone and call, or I can speculate. I can sit back for hours, maybe days, weeks, maybe years. I wonder whether he really meant that. I wonder whether he really intended for me to call. I wonder if he would—did he really mean that? Did he really intend for me to call him, or is he just saying that?

And I would never pick up the phone and I never exercise faith in his word. Now to be sure, there's a risk-taking in me to pick up the phone because in my mind, I don't know whether he's going to say yes or no. Why I wouldn't pick up the phone? Why do I speculate? Why do many Christians do that? Deep down, deep down, I don't believe that he's going to do this. It's called unbelief.

But until I pick up that phone and call, I will not experience the truth of his promise. Truth will not be operative until I believe it. Listen to what God said in Isaiah 28:16. This seesaw faith/fear, it's all over the scripture. It's right here, Isaiah 28:16. "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for sure foundation. The one who trusts in him will never be dismayed, will never be dismayed."

Jeremiah 17:7 and 8, "But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He does not fear." You see the trust and the fear and the confidence and faith and fear. He has no worries in the year of drought. When Jesus sensed that His disciples were in more than just fear, they were really in a state of panic, knowing that He's about to go to the cross, He said to them in John 14 verse 1, "Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Trust in God, trust in me."

In Acts 27 when Paul was shipwrecked, he said, "Don't be afraid. Why? I have faith in God." Romans 14:23, Paul said everything that does not come from faith is a sin. Listen to me very carefully. When the spirit of fear leaves, he leaves a vacuum. And that vacuum has to be continuously filled with the Holy Spirit whom the Bible called the spirit of faith.

Moment by moment, day by day, you have to continuously be filled with the spirit of faith, the Holy Spirit of God. Isaiah said in 7:9, "If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all."

Guest (Male): Thank you for making Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef part of your listening day. The ministry team's prayer is that today's message brought you closer to experiencing freedom from fear. Learn more about Dr. Youssef and the worldwide ministry of Leading the Way through your free subscription to My Journal. My Journal is a monthly magazine packed with encouragement from Dr. Youssef and insight into how the Gospel is changing lives, neighborhoods, and nations around the world.

Many use My Journal for dinner time conversation starters or as encouragement to guests that are visiting a business, like leaving it right there in the waiting room. Find out more about My Journal at LTW.org or call and speak with a Leading the Way ministry representative at 866-626-4356. If you are a new listener, you might not realize that Leading the Way has ministered all around the world for more than 35 years.

So what you hear right here on this station, it's a small part of the global impacting ministry. You see, in addition to programs heard here, Leading the Way messages are also heard in 28 languages worldwide through multiple technologies. One platform that has an exceptionally wide reach is the THE KINGDOM SAT. It's a satellite channel much like the channels that you have with your cable or satellite service provider, broadcasting Leading the Way content containing messages of grace and peace to Arabic-speaking communities around the world.

And in these days of global unrest, the Gospel is especially powerful, offering security and assurance not only for today, but also for eternity. It's a heavy responsibility, and it's a great privilege that God has given Leading the Way to expand the reach of the Gospel in this way. We appreciate all who have joined in prayer and generosity over the years.

And we invite you to learn ways that you can partner with Dr. Youssef to take the good news even further through Leading the Way. Give us a call. We're at 866-626-4356 or on the web, it's LTW.org. That's 866-626-4356 and LTW.org. And you know, you can get in touch with the ministry to give us your prayer request, send a gift to the ministry, or even just let Dr. Youssef know how this ministry has impacted your walk with Jesus.

Reach out by mail at Leading the Way, Post Office Box 20100, Atlanta, Georgia 30325. This program is furnished by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef, passionately proclaiming uncompromising truth.