Faith as Opposed to Fear

Faith is trust in God. But it is also not trusting in self. Faith has an object. And any object that is not God, is, by definition, an idol.

Michelangelo, the great Renaissance artist, is known for his statue of David and the incredible Sistine Chapel. But what many don’t know is that Michelangelo lived as the Reformation was sweeping through Europe and was influenced himself by Reformation ideas about justification by grace through faith.

Michelangelo was plagued throughout his life to live up to his own and others’ high demands for his artwork. But as he approached his death, a spiritual rebirth began to occur. One of his final works, intended to be his gravestone, was a statue of himself, in the guise of Nicodemus—the one who was “born again” (John 3)—holding the dead body of Jesus.

You can see the statue at the Duomo Museum in Florence, Italy, where a poem by Michelangelo is printed on the opposite wall. (By the way, I hope to be there in one month’s time.)

In the poem, Michelangelo describes coming to the end of his life and seeing that his artwork was actually harmful to his soul because it became “my idol and my King.”

At the end of the day, his only hope was not in being a great artist or receiving acclaim from others, but rather, the “divine Love, who to embrace us, opened his arms upon the cross.”

Of course, Michelangelo is referring to the Lord Jesus Christ. At some point, the great artist had a crisis of faith. He arrived at a point in his life where he had to turn away from the idol that he constructed, and in this case, it was his identity as an artist, and turn to God. It was in the Lord, that Michelangelo found his true identity.

Today, I want us to think about faith in the context of fear and anxiety. Many recall the words of Proverbs 3:5-6 , which is a life verse for many believers.

Proverbs 3:5–6 ESV

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

It reminds us that our lives are not our own, nor are we to conduct them as such.

To obtain a larger appreciation for these words, we must look at them in their context. Proverbs is a book of lessons written by several authors over many years. It is part of what is known as the wisdom literature of the Bible. It contains many admonitions.

Proverbs 3:5-6 is within a section encouraging the reader towards piety. Old Testament scholar David Hubbard states:

“In the flow of these admonitions- commands (are) followed by reasons for them- (They) begin with an umbrella statement followed by a series of more detailed instances of the general principle and then sometimes returning to an overall summation.” (David Hubbard, Mastering the Old Testament: Proverbs, 69-70).

And so in an effort to drive home the point, we see the same things said several different ways, whether it be in close proximity to the verse in question or throughout the book.

Picking Faith Apart in Proverbs 3:5-8.

You will notice that there are four commandments listed in these verses: trust, acknowledge, fear (respect) and turn. And there are results to doing these: straight paths, healing and refreshment.

What do these words tell us? First, there is a mandate; a command. Many people do not like being told what to do. But the wise person receives the Lord’s counsel on all matters. He happily and willingly submits to God’s revealed will in Scripture. Many times you and I need assistance and direction in life. And this statement is quite plain and straight forward: “Trust in the Lord.”

The meaning of the word, “trust,” is the Hebrew word “ba-tach” which means a reliance upon God. (Francis Brown, The New Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius Hebrew and English Lexicon, 105a).

John Calvin, who was one of the most gifted Bible teachers in the history of the church, defined faith in this way.

“We must not think that Christian faith is a pure and simple knowledge of God, or an understanding of the Scripture, which flutters about in the brain without touching the heart. That is the opinion we normally hold of things which are validated for us by some reason which sounds provable. Christian faith is, rather, a firm and solid assurance of the heart, by which we cling securely to the mercy of God which is promised to us through the gospel.” (John Calvin, Truth for All Time 48).

Calvin would go on to say that it is a work of the Spirit, which

“…enlightens our minds and strengthens our hearts; it settles us in this assurance- that the truth of God is so certain that he will accomplish everything that His holy Word has promised he will do.” (Calvin, 51)

So Christian faith is much deeper than a pure and simple knowledge of God. Notice that this faith is in contrast to relying on one’s “own understanding.” In other words, there is a difference between worldly wisdom and godly wisdom.

The late R.C. Sproul said that you don’t have to give up your intellect to trust God. But you must give up your pride. He went on to say:

“Biblical faith does not call people to crucify their intellect or take irrational leaps of faith into the darkness with the hope that Christ will catch us. Rather we are called to leap out of the darkness and into the light.” (R.C. Sproul, “Faith and Reason,” found at Faith and Reason by R.C. Sproul, accessed 2 November 2024).

Worldly wisdom is selfish in nature. It contains self, looking out for number one, doing what is right in your own eyes. It has a selfishness attached to it that gives no consideration to sin. The days of the Judges were known for this.

Faith as absent from Judges 17.

The Bible gives many examples of those who live by their own wisdom and do things contrary to the Lord’s will. One of those people was Micah of Judges 17. We are not told much about him. But we do know that he was selfish and conniving.

He was all about making a faith convenient for himself and putting his trust in something he made, which was comfortable and required no sacrifice or compliance..

Maybe this was a human effort towards self atonement or doing what seemed to be right from their perspective. But the fact that it was not of God, and went against His prescribed instruction, made it a further development of disobedience.

So many verses teach what God thinks about idolatry, which is putting anyone or anything in the place of God.

Deuteronomy 5:8–10 ESV

8 “ ‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 9 You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

And those are two components of an authentic faith: loving God and keeping His commandments.

Or Leviticus 26:1

Leviticus 26:1 ESV

1 “You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the Lord your God.

Psalm 97:7 (ESV)

7 All worshipers of images are put to shame,

who make their boast in worthless idols… .”

An idol is anything that takes the place of God in our lives. Augustine said: “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless, until they find their rest in You.”

Human beings have always been vulnerable to idolatry. It is a part of our sinful nature. The reformer John Calvin said:

“Man’s nature, so to speak, is a perpetual factory of idols. Man’s mind, full as it is of pride and boldness, dares to imagine a god according to its own capacity; as it sluggishly plods, indeed is overwhelmed with the crassest ignorance, it conceives an unreality and an empty appearance as God.” (Institutes, 1:108)

Micah and his family were given over to false religion and self-exaltation. Among other things, they...

Created a shrine.

Designated an ephod (religious clothes).

Developed a system of household idols.

And consecrated a family member as a priest.

Pretty elaborate system. They were serious. But it was all for nothing. We are told there in Judges 17:6:

“In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

Proverbs testifies that this way is unproductive and self-destructive. Proverbs 14:12:

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.”

The problem with many folks today is that they do not listen to God. They give no respect to His word. They care not that God has established Himself as the ruler of all and His creation is subject to Him. And that every word that proceeds from His mouth is there for us to live by.

One preacher said that the Ten Commandments can be summed up in the words: “Don’t hurt yourself.” And that Augustine called the Scriptures: “God’s love letter to you.”

Living out Proverbs 3:5-8.

So here are some practical steps to living Proverbs 3:5-8 out:

Pray about everything. Philippians 4:6

Philippians 4:6 ESV

6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Seek a comprehensive knowledge of the Lord through His word. 1 Peter 2:2

1 Peter 2:2 ESV

2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—

Obey God as a result of this knowledge. Proverbs 3:7-8

Proverbs 3:7–8 ESV

7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. 8 It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.

Carry Christ with you in all decisions and circumstances. 2 Corinthians 10:5

2 Corinthians 10:5 ESV

5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

Your understanding must have Biblical trust run through it, if it is redeemed and Christian. It is not as if God does not want you to use your mind and your education, but everything must be in subjection to Him, or it is idolatry.

If you are not trusting in God, then you are trusting in something else, whether that be yourself or another one of the world’s many idols. And that invites fear and anxiety.

In contrast, the renewed mind, transformed by a relationship with God (Romans 12:2), produces a life with much more peace (John 14:27). Remember Proverbs 9:10 which states:

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”

Here are some additional points of practical encouragement:

Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant with the weak and erring, for sometime in life you will have been all of these.

Say “No, thank you” to extra projects you don’t have the time or energy for.

Put brain in gear before opening mouth. Before saying anything, ask yourself if what you are about to say is 1 True, 2) Kind, and 3) Necessary.

Stop worrying, If something concerns you, do something about it. If you can’t do anything about it, let it go.

For every one thing that goes wrong, there are 50 to 100 blessings. Count them.

Learn to live one day at a time.

Choose Faith Over Fear

And we can see good examples in history and around us as we live in a world in turmoil; where loyalties are divided and anger surges; where love for God and love for neighbor is becoming rarer.

One source told me that an average person’s anxiety is focused on :

40% -- things that will never happen

30% -- things about the past that can’t be changed

12% -- things about criticism by others, mostly untrue

10% -- about health, which gets worse with stress

8% -- about real problems that will be faced

But listen to these statements from those that learned.

“How much have cost us the evils that never happened!” - T. Jefferson

“Anxiety is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all others thoughts are drained.” - Arthur Somers Roche (early 20th c. author and playwright)

“The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.” - George Mueller (19th c. Baptist evangelist, educator and philanthropist)