This past year has been one of many trials and challenges to do exactly and obediently what God has called each of us to do.  It has and is a year in which I have had to personally walk by faith, not by sight or fear and with perseverance.  This is true for most all of you reading this challenge and meditating on our Scriptures for the week.  There is no way we could have foreseen what 2020 has placed before us to face.  We either live by faith or we live by fear.  To live by faith rather than fear is a choice that we have to make on a daily basis.  Fear produces anxiety and worry which can detract us from walking by faith and trusting that God is in control.

I recently read that we should always remember that an important rule to remember is to “Wait to worry.”  We can even worry that we worry too much.  Worry is to assume responsibility that God never intended us to have.  Worry, fear and anxiety are the opposite of faith.  We all know this and have to fight it often.  We should trust God and wait to worry.  Until we know differently, don’t start worrying about all the “what if’s.”  Waiting to worry helps us to develop the habit of not worrying and becoming anxious.  The closer we get to God and His Word, the less we fear, worry and fret because we then trust in Him Who is invisible but always there and in control.  Most of the things we worry about never happen when we walk by faith and not by sight.  I know that this is all easy to write and say and harder to live out.  However, the closer we get to God, the more we will be filled with faith.  The further we get away from God, the more we will fall to fear and worry.  The decision is ours to make, so “live and lead by faith with perseverance.”