by The enemy of our faith is not so much our doubts as it is our fears. An example of the Old Testament is Jonah. We all know the story of Jonah and the Whale, that disobedience towards God had him swallowed up in that great fish. Then, Jonah’s life went on to impact lives for millennia, even Jesus illustrates Jonah for His literal three days and three nights in the tomb (Matthew 12:40).
God challenged every aspect of Jonah’s faith. Jonah 1:1 starts off suggesting that he was raised to live a life guided by humble faith. We see this because names were given in the Bible to reveal context in a passage. Jonah’s name means “dove” which was the sacrificial animal for the poor and humble (Leviticus 14:21-22). His father’s name was “Amittai” which means “faithfulness.”
When God called Jonah to follow Him by faith, there was no doubt to the location, Nineveh, and utter wickedness of the people (Nahum 3). Jonah runs from God’s will, not because of doubt, but as he said in verse 9, “fear.” In this verse he also states he was a “Hebrew,” who were an archenemy of Nineveh and their bloodthirstiness. History tells us that Nineveh would flay their enemy and nail them alive to the great doors to their city as an offering to Dagon, their fish god. Ironically, or not, Jonah was swallowed up and spit out alive by such a great fish.
Fear is a natural God given instinct to guide us away from or safely through our dangers. In perfection, fear helps us avoid every aspect of the god of this world. However, we are imperfect because of the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. Today, like Jonah, we struggle with fear and our freewill to make wise choices in following God’s will in our lives. Even Jesus, “in the days of his flesh … feared” (Hebrew 5:7-8), but He overcame it because He did not have our sin nature to struggle against obedience to the Father.
Most believers know the next step in their Christian walk. They have no doubt about baptism, tithing, church attendance, soulwinning, and much more. What paralyzes them in their walk with the Lord is fear. When fear wins, their faith then fails.
Jesus is our example, the Bible is our guide and great hymns of the faith encourage us. Take a moment to be in each of these today. Read the verses of Trust and Obey in light of your faith, doubts, fears and obedience.
