Faith Over Fear: A Pastor’s Guide to Leading Through Crisis
As pastors, we lead churches whose members live in a near-constant wave of cultural fear. It's impossible for Christians to turn on our televisions without hearing news of a crisis of some kind: wars overseas, culture coming apart at the seams, political scandals, pandemic references, and fear-mongering. Social media is full of fear-mongering.
Our minds are being bombarded with harsh negativity that can very easily create fear, panic, and anxiety within us and our congregations.
I want to respond to this crisis and share with pastors a biblical perspective on what is happening in our world today.
Faith Over Fear: God Is On His Throne
In times like this, it's very easy for us and our congregations to be consumed by fear. There's so much that we don't know, and as a result, our imaginations can run rampant with the question, 'What if?' Our minds can crank out endless scenarios to answer that question for us.
This, in turn, can run our emotions into overdrive, creating such panic that we're in danger of allowing what we don't know to overshadow the truth of what we do know.
We know that God is on His throne. We know God’s promises. We know that He loves and cares for us and our congregations. We know that He is omnipotent and more than sufficient. And we know that we are never alone, unloved, and never left to live in this world without all He has promised.
Jesus Christ is available to us and our congregations at the moment of faith. We know these things.
Practical Advice For Pastors Leading Through Fear
We have read the Bible verses, heard the sermons, and read the books. Yes, we know that God is for us and that nothing can prevail against us. As Paul told us in that great eighth chapter of Romans, "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?" Romans 8:31b (NASB)
As physical beings living in a physical world, it's so easy to allow the physical, visible world to dominate our minds.
Frank Friedmann
We need to bring what we know to the forefront of our minds to push back everything that is presently bombarding us and taking up the Supreme place in our thoughts. The Apostle John said, "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world." 1 John 2:16 (NASB)
We have to take action.
In crisis, when facing fear, there are often actions we need to take:
- During a legal crisis, we need to follow the advice of legal professionals.
- During a financial crisis, we need to follow the advice of financial professionals
- During a health crisis, we need to follow the advice of medical professionals.
- During a safety crisis, we need to follow the advice of security or police professionals.
Remember, though, with all that we see, taste, touch, hear, and smell in the physical realm, we can very easily miss that there's a whole other world out there. The world of the spirit. The world that we cannot see.
A thorough Bible study reveals many incredibly relatable examples of other God-followers who struggled like this (e.g. David, Moses leading the Israelites, insert-OT-prophet-here). Hebrews 11 is packed with examples of heroes who held onto faith over fear.
Perhaps the best example of having faith over fear is found in the Old Testament — a story about a precious man named Jeremiah.
An incredible example of faith over fear is in the Old Testament — a story about a precious man named Jeremiah.
Faith Over Fear: Learning From The Prophet Jeremiah
The book of Lamentations is easily overlooked - but it’s packed full of truth and comfort. Babylon had just conquered the nation of Israel. The city of Jerusalem had been leveled. Its buildings burned to the ground, and its people were carted off as slaves. Even though Jeremiah had escaped the carnage, he returned to Jerusalem and sat among the ashes of his once beautiful city.
He smelled fire. He smelled death. And it was crushing to his spirit. Bodies were strewn all over the city. None were spared — men, women, or children. The shrieks and screams of the wounded and the survivors pounded his brain. Everywhere he looked, all he could see was devastation.
Overwhelmed, discouraged, and hopeless, he began to write a lament. His words would be an expression to the outside world of what was happening on the inside of a man who found himself in a very precarious position.
I love the honesty of what Jeremiah wrote in Lamentations. It is sorrowful, painful, and full of fear. He openly expressed what so many of us feel in perilous times.
Frank Friedmann
Here is my paraphrase of what Jeremiah wrote (from Lamentations 3):
I am the man who has seen affliction. I am in darkness and not light. My flesh and skin are old, and my bones are broken. My circumstances are oppressing me. I'm walled in. There's no way out. I'm laden down with chains. I'd cry, but no one would hear my cry. I'd shout, but not even God hears me.
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Gracely
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For many years, I pastored a church in Baton Rouge. I pastored through Katrina. I pastored through the war in Iraq. I pastored through COVID. Besides needing to oversee the management of my church, I also needed to care for my flock.
In crisis, God can feel distant.
At times, in crisis, I've felt alone, like God was far off. This is why Jeremiah brings me such comfort. He, too, felt as though there was no way out of his situation — only God could help him.
Yet, at that moment, he felt like God was strangely silent. As is so easy to do, Jeremiah moved into paranoia, which is often what happens when we find ourselves in trouble. Jeremiah said,
I feel (feel being the keyword) like God is against me. Like He's waiting to ambush me. I feel like I'm the bullseye of God's arrows. I had hope in God, but now they all laugh at me.
So often, what we feel is not in line with what is true. God has promised to never abandon His children. But to Jeremiah, in that moment, God felt distant.
He continues,
I have no strength. I have no peace. I have no hope.
Wow. My friend, have you ever felt like that? If you're human at all, you most likely have. You may even feel like that right now, having difficulty holding to faith over fear. Fortunately, Jeremiah continued to write.
The Holy Spirit refused to let his story end there and went on to provide us with incredible insight through him.
It’s easy to focus in the wrong place (on our affliction).
As Jeremiah continued to write, he repeated a crucial insight in the text so that we wouldn't miss it. In verse 19, Jeremiah says, “...remembering my affliction”.
Then again, in verse 20: ”...my soul still has them in remembrance.” Do you see it, my friend? Jeremiah reveals that at that moment, his eyes were fixed on all the affliction and trouble he faced in his sin-cursed world.
Now, before you excuse him, and yourself, for doing so — because that's so easy to do when conflict and pressure, turmoil and sickness come our way — we must remember these essential words from the book of Colossians:
Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.
Colossians 3:2 NASB
How To Lead Through Fear, With Faith
God has not given us a spirit of fear. The Holy Spirit, through the Bible, tells us to set our minds, and the Holy Spirit will never call us to do something we cannot do. My friend, we may not have the power to keep thoughts from coming into our minds, but we have the choice of whether we will allow them to remain there.
As Martin Luther once said, "You cannot keep birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair."
It's one thing to have a thought; however, it's quite another to invite it to sit down for a cup of tea — and that's what many people are doing right now.
Frank Friedmann
The media is pouring out negative thoughts, and too many of us are inviting those thoughts to sit down with us for a cup of tea. In turn, those negative thoughts cause fear and panic in our lives.
When desiring faith over fear, don’t minimize your fear.
What Jeremiah experienced was very real, and we don't want to minimize it. Devastating events cause hurt, sorrow, and fear, but that is only part of the story. As I said earlier, there's a whole other world out there.
The Corinthian letters call it the "unseen world" — a world that, I would suggest, is of a greater reality than the physical world we see. It's the reality of the spirit. It's the reality of God. And my friend, by faith, it is a world we can experience right now!
Look through the eyes of Heaven.
Jeremiah needed to take the physical world around him and see it through the eyes of the spirit. Yes, planet Earth is real, but see it through the eyes of heaven. See what is going on today through the eyes of a God who has promised never to leave or forsake you.
Now, let's not miss what Jeremiah did next:
Make a conscious choice.
After he remembered his affliction and observed all the devastation around him, he made a choice. He chose to put something else in his mind. He resolves to stop thinking about the horrible events around him and says,
This I recall to my mind. Therefore, I have hope.
Lamentations 3:21 (NASB)
Jeremiah set his mind on the God who loves him and confesses,
We are not totally consumed only because of God's mercies. God is compassionate and merciful. He is good to those who seek Him and are faithful. This I recall to my mind; therefore, I have hope.
Hope In God Is The Key To Faith Over Fear
Jeremiah's hope, this biblical hope, is not a hope that says, "Oh, I hope something happens. I hope I win the lottery." Biblical hope is confidence. It says, "This is what I know to be true."
Jeremiah intentionally changed his mind.
He set his mind on the Person of God, the promise of God, and the character of God, and something changed. Please understand that it was not Jeremiah's circumstances that changed; it was Jeremiah himself.
Please understand that it was not Jeremiah's circumstances that changed; it was Jeremiah himself.
Frank Friedmann
Jeremiah was still sitting in the rubble. He could still smell the smoke and hear the anguished cries. He could see the death that was all around him. But Jeremiah was changed by recalling to his mind the faithfulness, mercy, and love of God.
He knew that what he was going through was not the end of the story. He found the strength to endure the day and the hope he would need to face tomorrow.
Three Things To Cultivate Faith Over Fear:
Are you discouraged and fearful of what's happening around you? Have you lost your hope? Do what Jeremiah did. Have faith over fear.
- Replace the thoughts of what's happening around you in the physical world and set your mind on the spiritual.
- Take your eyes off planet Earth and choose to see the world we live in through the eyes of heaven.
- With an act of your will, choose not to focus on the peril surrounding you but instead on the Person of God.
Our God has promised to love, care, and provide for you in such a way that nothing will ever be able to separate you from Him. With our hands placed in our Father's hand, His promise is that we will walk through this valley of the shadow of death we are in and come through to the other side, basking in the glory of God's love, care, mercy, and faithfulness.
I offer this to you in resolute hope. With faith in Him, stand firm. Trust God’s character. Trust His Word.
God bless, my friend. You are loved.
Pastor Frank
