In the New Testament, we learn a powerful lesson on overcoming our fears with faith in our Savior Jesus Christ. In Matthew 14 the Apostle are in a ship and they see Jesus off a ways in the water, walking on the water. They become afraid but Christ eases their fears by saying, “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.” (Matt 14:27). With his faith strengthened by hearing his Master’s voice, Peter desires to walk on the water with Christ. He had great faith as he stepped out into the water to walk toward Jesus. Yet, once again as he saw the boisterous winds and powerful waves that had the power to destroy him, he became afraid. As his faith was decreasing and as he was sinking he cried out to Jesus saying “Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt.” (Matt 14:30-31).
We learn from this account that when we have faith in our Savior, we will surely succeed. However, when we start to doubt in his power and in his plan, we will surely fail.
But how do we overcome our fears? Elder Nelson says we combat our fears by strengthening our faith. Faith is the opposite of fear and they cannot exist together. One will eventually overcome the other.
In the Bible Dictionary under “faith” it reads: “To have faith is to have confidence in something or someone. The Lord has revealed himself and His perfect character, possessing in their fullness all the attributes of love, knowledge, justice, mercy, unchangeableness, power, and every other needful thing, so as to enable the mind of man to place confidence in him without reservation…. Strong faith is developed by obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ; in other words, faith comes by righteousness….”
I love how the Bible Dictionary describes faith as having confidence in our Heavenly Father. The scriptures are full of account after account of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ being kind, loving, merciful, forgiving, and most importantly all-knowing. They understand us better than we understand ourselves and know what is best for us. I know that as we come to know our Heavenly Father’s character better, our confidence in Him will increase and we will learn to trust His plan for us.
I would like to relate this principle to that of the sunrise. Every night when I go to bed, I have faith that the sun will rise the next day. I’m sure most of us do. We trust that even though it is completely dark at night and we cannot see the sun, it will rise the following day. Why? Why do we have such strong faith that the sun will return the next day? Because of experience. Day after day we wake up to light. After such consistency of the sun rising every single day, we begin to believe that the next day it will again rise. As we continue to believe it will rise and it continues to do so, our faith is strengthened. So it is with our Heavenly Father. As we learn of our Heavenly Father’s character and His consistency to do what is best for us, our faith will strengthen in Him. Day after day, if we have faith in his plan and put it to the test through consistent scripture study, meaningful prayer, and being obedient to His commandments, we will get the assurance that the gospel is true and our faith and confidence in our Heavenly Father will increase.
Hebrews 10:23 reads, “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)” God is truly faithful and will give us the blessings he has promised if we are faithful to Him.
I can think of two reasons we may have fear.
One is fear in the future. Elder Nelson says, “Why do we need such resilient faith? Because difficult days are ahead. Rarely in the future will it be easy or popular to be a faithful Latter-day Saint. Each of us will be tested. The Apostle Paul warned that in the latter days, those who diligently follow the Lord “shall suffer persecution.” That very persecution can either crush you into silent weakness or motivate you to be more exemplary and courageous in your daily lives.”
The world is not becoming any easier to live in. In fact, the values of the world will continue to grow further away from the values we hold to in the Church. And yet, the Apostles and Prophets continue to tell us to “fear not.” I believe it is because they have confidence in our Heavenly Father that His plan is being put in place and all we can do is to have faith in his infinite wisdom. As we adopt this similar attitude, we too can “fear not” and go forth with faith, being “more exemplary and courageous in our daily lives.”
Elder Scott says, “Faith in the future is demonstrated by a couple sealed in the temple. They understand that by obedience to the teachings of Jesus Christ and the plan of happiness of our Father in Heaven, they can have a joyous life together. They recognize that when the challenges intended to be growth opportunities come, they will find ways, as prompted by the Holy Ghost, to overcome them in ways that are productive and character building.”
When we are sealed in the temple as families, we are demonstrating our faith in the Plan of Salvation. It shows to God that we believe there is more to life than this earthly probation. Being sealed in the temple also gives us greater power to fight against the adversary and therefore increases our faith in our ability to succeed in this life.
President Monson said, “I testify to you that our promised blessings are beyond measure. Though the storm clouds may gather, though the rains may pour down upon us, our knowledge of the gospel and our love of our Heavenly Father and of our Savior will comfort and sustain us and bring joy to our hearts as we walk uprightly and keep the commandments. My beloved brothers and sisters, fear not. Be of good cheer. The future is as bright as your faith.”
The second reason we fear is because of our trials. Elder Hales said, “When the challenges of mortality come, and they come for all of us, it may seem hard to have faith and hard to believe. At these times only faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His Atonement can bring us peace, hope, and understanding. Only faith that He suffered for our sakes will give us the strength to endure to the end.”
We all have trials in our lives. Whether they are big or small, they are our own personal hardships. They may make us want to give up and say that there is no point to believe anymore and to give up hope in a better future. They may tempt us to become angry with God or ask why it had to happen to us. I believe at this point we have a choice. We have a choice to go through the trial alone or with the help of our Heavenly Father. Why would we ever choose to go through the hardships of this life alone when God is willing to help? Like Peter, if we call out, saying “Lord, save me,” he will immediately stretch forth his hand and catch you. Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ will not leave us to fight our battles alone. Indeed, he says, “I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up” (D&C 84:88).
I bear you my testimony of this principle because I have done it. I have been in trials that seem to crush me and have tempted me to give up hope. Instead of wavering or denying my savior, I knew I needed His help. There was no way I could get through my trial without Him. I called upon His Spirit through prayer and the peace and hope I yearned for was returned to me. Christ immediately caught me and lifted me up.
This does not mean that God will take away the trial or simply let us go smoothly through life without any trials just because we have faith in him.
Elder Richard G. Scott said, “Even if you exercise your strongest faith, God will not always reward you immediately according to your desires. Rather, God will respond with what in His eternal plan is best for you. He loves you to a depth and completeness you cannot conceive of in your mortal state. Indeed, were you to know His entire plan, you would never ask for that which is contrary to it even though your feelings tempt you to do so. Sincere faith gives understanding and strength to accept the will of our Heavenly Father when it differs from our own. We can accept His will with peace and assurance, confident that His infinite wisdom surpasses our own ability to comprehend fully His plan as it unfolds a piece at a time.”
Keeping an eternal perspective is essential to overcoming fear. The Lord told Joseph Smith in his greatest time of need, “…know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good…. Fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever.” (D&C 122:7,9).
As we understand the Lord’s plan for us, we will find that fear will melt away. Our faith will increase and it will become easier each time to submit to His will for us, understanding that His way is the best way.
Our fear also can be overcome by knowing that our Heavenly Father will be with us as long as we are worthy to have his presence.
The 3rd verse in the Hymn “How Firm a Foundation” speaks of our Heavenly Father’s help. “Fear not, I am with thee, oh, be not dismayed, For I am they God and will still give thee aid. I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand, Upheld by my righteous omnipotent hand.”
Truly when the Lord is on our side, we have no reason to fear.
Richard C. Egdley, First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric tells us what faith can accomplish in our lives. He said, “When the disciples asked Jesus why they could not cast a devil out as they had just witnessed the Savior do, Jesus answered, “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove” (Matthew 17:20). I have never witnessed the removal of an actual mountain. But because of faith I have seen a mountain of doubt and despair removed and replaced with hope and optimism. Because of faith I have personally witnessed a mountain of sin replaced with repentance and forgiveness. And because of faith I have personally witnessed a mountain of pain replaced with peace, hope, and gratitude. Yes, I have seen mountains removed.”
Faith is indeed powerful enough to move mountains in our lives.
I would like to close with a scripture. Hebrews 10:35-36 reads, “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.”
Let us hold fast to our confidence in our Heavenly Father so that we may earn the ultimate promise of Eternal Life.
I leave you with this testimony in the name of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, Amen.
I got a little busy holding the cute baby so Ryan had to help me keep my house standing. Harder than it looks.
The boys' house was pretty much a disaster zone but as Nate said, "It was really about being together and having fun, and I had fun!"
This is my house that took like 24 hours to make. I had to let it dry overnight so that I could actually put candy on the roof without it collapsing. But I finally finished it the next day and it turned out really cute! (Love the brick). It won't be entering any contests or anything but at least I had fun making it!
Brooke's house won the contest because hers was the only one that didn't keep falling down. She didn't have time to finish decorating it so she left it at our house and I decorated it for her. It was fun to decorate a house that wasn't constantly falling down!
