Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).

    

Like many children, when I was young, I was afraid of the dark. Whenever the lights were turned off to go to bed, every sound in the house convinced me that impending doom was right around the corner.

    

Whether it was the wind blowing outside, the furnace kicking on, water moving through the pipes, or hearing the dog bark, the noises convinced me that something disastrous was right around the corner.

    

While some of us may not be as afraid of the dark as we once were, there is no shortage of things that do cause us to wrestle with fear.

    

Parents may fear for the health and safety of their children.

    

Some may fear the future of our country depending on who is in power.

     

Right now there are a lot of people fearful of getting sick with the Coronavirus.

    

Others may fear all the restrictions relating to COVID-19.

    

There are a lot of things that can cause us to become fearful.

    

But God doesn’t want us to live in fear. If we are going to live our lives over fear, then we are going to have to learn to trust God and His promises. The word that the Bible gives us to teach us how to do that is the word “faith”. 

    

Through faith we can live over fear.

    

In Hebrews, we are a description of faith: Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).

    

The word “assurance” can be translated “confidence”. Faith in God’s promises will give us the confidence we need to trust Him in all areas of life. The type of faith that we are called to have is not a wishful hope. Instead it is a rock solid, settled confidence that what God has promised will come to pass. It is not blind trust in fanciful notions. Instead, it is complete trust in the power and promises of God. 

    

The Bible is filled with God’s promises to help us overcome our fears. 

    

“It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed” (Deuteronomy 31:8).

    

We don’t have to fear anybody or anything if we know the Lord is always with us. That doesn’t mean we will have a problem-free life or that we never go through difficulties. But it does mean we can trust that God will be with us no matter what we go through in this life.

    

No matter what it is that may be tempting you towards fear right now, put your trust in God’s promises. By trusting in His power and promises, we can live in faith over fear.