Fear -- FAITH -- Foolishness

Since Joan and I seriously began to consider leaving Community Wesleyan Church we have encountered a lot of fearful thoughts -

• "Where is God leading us?",
• "What will the people be like?",
• "Will they accept us?",
• "Are we in God's will or coming up with our own agenda?",
• "How will CWC do without us?",
• "How will God provide for our needs (and some of our wants)?".

One day I was kind of spinning some of these fearful questions and God led me to a new insight.


As humans we tend to either live in fear or in foolishness. Fear means that we play it safe because we are unsure of the best course of action, or we have been burnt before and we do not want a repeat. Foolishness means that we are throwing reason and caution to the wind and we are going to do what we 'feel' or what we 'want'. Foolish actions come from denying the realities around us - the value of relationships, human and divine laws, social mores, the effect of addictions, etc.


It hit me that these two ideas are on polar opposites on the spectrum of decisions we make. We all know people who lean very heavily one way or the other. We cannot understand how they could be so limited by their fears or how someone could make such foolish choices. So what is the balance between these two opposites? I believe it is Faith. Faith means that we are trusting God to lead us to what is best. God's leading might take us through fearful times, or places that seem like foolishness to us or others, but if we faithfully follow God's leading we will eventually see what God was trying to accomplish in our lives or in the lives of those we affect.

As we read the stories of men and women of faith in the Bible it is obvious that they went through times of fear - Moses before Pharoah, Elijah and Jezebel; and sometimes God's leading seemed like foolishness - Moses wandering in the desert for forty years, Noah building an ark on dry land. We cannot let either of these issues derail us from what God is leading us to be.

FOOLISHNESS - 1 Corinthians 1:25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.

FEAR - 1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

FAITH - Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

So, the Swansons are trying very hard to live in faith at this point in our lives. We have the natural fears that accompany change and we do not want to do anything foolish, but we do understand that God might need to lead us through some tough places to arrive at God's place for us.

In Christian Love,

James