Faith is a Choice Not a Feeling
Sunday Rewind is a 5-day Devotional based on the weekly sermon at Resonate Community Church
January 4th Sermon, Day 5
If you've been waiting for your anxious thoughts to disappear before you can have real faith, you might be waiting forever. Faith isn't the absence of worry - it's choosing where to place your worries when they come. You might have anxious thoughts about your job security, your relationships, or your health. The presence of these thoughts doesn't mean your faith is weak or that you're failing spiritually. It means you're human, living in an uncertain world where real challenges exist.
Faith is what you do with those thoughts. Do you rehearse them endlessly in your mind, trying to solve problems that may never happen? Or do you acknowledge them and then consciously choose to place them in God's hands? Faith is the daily, sometimes moment-by-moment decision to trust God's character over your circumstances. This doesn't mean you become passive or stop caring about important things in your life. God never asks you to stop caring - He asks you to stop carrying what only He can handle.
There's a difference between responsible concern that leads to appropriate action and anxious worry that leads to paralysis. Your faith grows not by eliminating uncertainty but by learning to trust God in the midst of it. Every time you choose to cast your anxiety on Him instead of carrying it yourself, you're exercising faith.
Every time you decide to focus on God's faithfulness instead of your fears, you're growing stronger. As you face whatever uncertainties this new year might bring, remember that you don't have to face them alone. God promises that you never will. Your job isn't to eliminate every anxious thought but to consistently choose where you place them. Choose God's hands over your own worried mind.
Bible Verse
'Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.' - 1 Peter 5:7
Reflection Question
In what specific area of your life do you need to stop carrying the weight and start trusting God's care?
Quote Faith, it's not the absence of anxious thoughts, it's choosing again and again where you place them.
Prayer
God, help me understand that faith isn't about having no anxious thoughts but about choosing to trust You with them. When worries come, remind me to cast them on You rather than carry them myself. Strengthen my faith through each act of surrender. Amen.
