In an effort to expand my abilities as a life coach, I am currently taking several continuing education courses. One particular lecture has me thinking. Do I live by fear or do I live by faith?
Let me explain what I mean when I say living by fear and living by faith. Living by fear, living in fear, means I am anticipating an adverse outcome to the tasks ahead of me. Living by faith, living in hope, suggests I am anticipating the best result to the tasks ahead of me.
I imagine the mountain biker in the picture above, beginning his ride down the mountain in faith, in hope, that he will finish his ride with no negative consequences to his bike or his person. He may be appropriately apprehensive, but he is not living by fear as he begins this descent. He has imagined himself experiencing a good outcome.
The instructor of my course suggests the person living by fear is at some level, holding back on a full commitment to the tasks ahead. Fear of the tasks ahead may be completely paralyzing. The emotion of fear is in control and blocks the behavior needed to push on to overcome the obstacles in the way.
On the other hand, my instructor would advocate that living by faith, living in hope, allows one to operate in relative comfort even when surrounded by an uncertain set of circumstances. There is a sense, perhaps even a certainty, that all will turn out. This attitude should not be confused with being foolhardy or reckless. The biker has evaluated the mountain trail and has considered his skill, his past descents, and the likelihood of completing this ride. That’s how he selects the possibility of success.
In recent blog posts, you may have read about my decision to spend some time working on an oil rig in the North Sea. You may also remember I admitted to being terrified at the thought of spending time on a floating oil platform doing God knows what kind of work.
Quite frankly, I didn’t have much choice once I was loaded into the helicopter that took me to the rig. In the two or so hours it took to reach the oil rig, I had time to sort out how I was going to navigate the uncertain set of circumstances I was about to encounter. Would I expect the worst outcomes possible or would I find ways to discover and function keeping the best results possible as my motivation, as my hope?
It dawned on me just before the helicopter touched down, for the next two weeks, I had to decide, if would I live in fear or live in faith? I decided I would find a way to cope. I would find a way to challenge myself to discover good outcomes.
Being confronted by things unknown can be very frightening. Like the rider in the photo above, at some point the decision has to be made – will I bike down the mountain or will I stay at home? Will I miss the opportunity to develop a new attitude for operating in difficult circumstances or will I retreat to that which is comfortable and predictable?
Do you know what’s stopping you from tackling your fear? Do you know what is holding you back from living in faith, in hope? Is this something you want to consider?
Excellent questions for us to face. Thank you.
Thanks, Karen. I am more and more convinced the manner in which we live affects so many other aspects of our lives – our habits, our outlooks, our sense of hope, our relationships. IN y opinion, it’s the sum total of one’s foundational beliefs that help us each get through the questions life throws at us. My concern is that we ask and attend to some of the bigger questions. I hope everyone finds peace and well being as a result of living core beliefs that console and comfort in difficult times. Jon
I really enjoyed your thought provoking blog. Your comments on how we live our lives I think also relates to how we view the world. There is a school of thought that believes that people who view the world as a life-giving and supportive place tend to be more giving, more thoughtful of other people, and more concerned about others. People that view the world as neither good or bad tend to be mostly concerned with their immediate surroundings and immediate circle of family and friends. People that view the world as hostile and something that is threatening, must always be on the defensive, unable to trust, and are only concerned with themselves.
Do we live by fear or faith? If a person wants to change how they live in this world, perhaps they first need to understand how they view the world in which they live.
It is also interesting to see how this impacts the behavior of different Christian denominations. There are some that emphasise the evil in the world that is always attacking the faithful and that followers must fight against that evil. They are encouraged to go into the world and make people aware of their sinful ways and fight against the evil in the world (fear?). Then there are other denominations that emphasise the grace in Christ that forgives sin and frees those who follow him to go into the world to love neighbor as self and share the Good News (faith?).
Is one way better than the other? Do we need to have some of both? Or do we just need to be more self-aware in our understanding of our world-view, and in that new awareness, are we interested and willing to make some changes.
Thank you for this thoughtful feedback. Transformation in my denomination is part of the church’s mission – “To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” So in that regard, there ought to be a shift from living by fear to living by faith as we encounter and commit to the church’s mission and hopefully, to our own transformation. I appreciate your feedback. Let’s pray for the world that it may find a way to live without fear and destructive anxiety. Thanks.