There are two different ways of dealing with just about everything in life, by faith or in fear. Faith is described in Hebrews 11:1,as being “certain of what we do not see.” It is an absolute belief that God is constantly working behind the scenes in every area of our lives, even when there is no tangible evidence to support that fact. On the other hand, fear, simply stated, is unbelief or weak belief. As unbelief gains the upper hand in our thoughts, fear takes hold of our emotions. Being released from fear and worry is based on faith, which is the very opposite of unbelief.

Understand that faith is not something that we can produce in ourselves. Faith is a gift, (Ephesians 2:8-9)  and faithfulness is described as a fruit or characteristic which is produced in our lives by the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). The Christian’s faith is a confident assurance in a God who loves us, who knows our thoughts and cares about our deepest needs. That faith continues to grow as we study the Bible and learn the attributes of His amazing character. The more we learn about God, the more we can see Him working in our lives and the stronger our faith grows.

With everything you look at in life and ministry you have the choice to look at with one set of eyes or another. You are either going to be looking through the eyes of faith or through the eyes of fear.  Remember in the Book of Exodus, Moses had led the Hebrews out of Egypt, gone through the Red Sea and came up on the other side.  They had been in the desert two years and they were on the edge of the Promised Land.  They’re at a place called Kadesh-Barnea. They selected twelve spies to go into the land and to report back.  When they came back, they returned with two different reports.  Ten of them had a negative report, two of them had a positive report.  Ten of them saw with eyes of fear, two of them saw with eyes of faith.  Ten of them said, “We saw obstacles.”  Two of them said, “We see opportunities.” Ten people caused an entire nation to die in the desert because they did not see with eyes of faith.  They saw with eyes of fear.

Many times, people in ministry have missed tremendous opportunities because they did not have the right perspective.  They did not see things from God’s point of view. Every day church leaders like you and I are presented with situations that can be perceived as either obstacles or opportunities. I want to encourage you to look at all things as opportunities of faith that God can conquer whatever obstacles may be presented in your life and in the life of your church.