The popular view is not always the correct one. in 1 Kings 22 we see a situation about making plans without consulting God when Ahab and Jehoshaphat form an alliance against the king of Aram. Jeshoshaphat, king of Judah, has the wisdom to seek God about this, but Ahab is dismissive of the prophet Micaiah, the only prophet who has the courage to speak out against his plans. Micaiah is hated by Ahab ‘because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad.’ (1 Kings 22:8)

It appears there were many ‘puppet’ prophets in Israel at that time who were all too willing to give the king the answer he wanted to hear (‘attack Ramoth Gilead and be victorious, for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.’ 1 Kings 22:12) They were happy to pressurise Micaiah into giving the same prophecy (1 Kings 22:13), but Micaiah was courageous enough to speak only what the Lord said to him. (1 Kings 22:14)

Micaiah’s prophecy was stark and earned the outrage of virtually everyone present (Zedekiah slapped him in the face, so great was his outrage! 1 Kings 22:24) But Micaiah remained steadfast, even when facing prison and the prospect of only bread and water. (1 Kings 22:25)

It’s never easy to swim against the tide, to hold alternative views. Ridicule, outrage, loneliness and self-doubt can all creep in and leave us tempted to follow the crowd for a quiet life. This is as relevant today as ever, when scorn and hostility to anything other than ‘mainstream’ opinions are so prevalent. But Micaiah reminds us that what really matters is seeking God’s mind in situations and being prepared to follow Him, no matter what.

Faith says 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, and as our emotions are swayed by the fear, reason goes out of the window and our actions eventually will be inconsistent with faith. Even when we might feel there is a legitimate cause for fear, Jesus tells us that faith can be the overcoming response instead. David learned this lesson, telling us in Ps 56:3, ‘When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You.’

I believe Jesus allowed the storm to come to show the disciples that their fears were greater than their faith and that He wanted them to learn that life is about reversing that ‘natural order.’ Naturally, our fears will always be greater than our faith. Fear is woven into the fabric of our sin-stained nature, but Jesus does not have that nature. He was like us in every way except for sin (Heb 4:15) and He wants us to develop a faith that conquers our fears as we dwell in Him and allow His Spirit to work His nature deep into ours. He asks the questions not to humiliate us, not to make us creep away in shame, not to cower away waiting for punishment. He asks the questions to bring us up short, to make us look deep into our hearts and to recognise that our faith needs to grow. That’s true for all of us. None of us has reached the place where we trust fully, but God wants us to become more confident in Him than we are in our fear. He wants us to grow in faith and in love, for (as John tells us) love has the power to drive out fear, since fear is to do with punishment. (1 John 4:18)

In order to replace fear with faith, we must hear, read and meditate on the word of God (Rom 10:17), so that we can experience a strong, confident faith that actively rejects worry and fear. We have to do this actively; it doesn’t happen by accident. Ultimately, we must choose to trust God rather than to live in fear. We must go forward in faith, leaving fear behind, and this only happens as we learn to trust through trials and adversity (see Rom 5:1-5). As we dwell on God’s word, we will find promises that set us free from every fear:

• When we face financial trouble, Philippians 4:19 tells us, “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

• When  we are anxious about a future decision, Psalm 32:8 reminds us that God will “instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.”

• In sickness we can remember that Romans 5:3–5 says, “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

• When someone turns against us, we can be comforted by the words in Romans 8:31, “If God is for us who can be against us!”

Throughout life we will continue to face various trials that would cause us fear, but God assures us that we can know a calm peace through every situation: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). It’s time for us to allow faith to flourish and to refuse to live in fear.

In our series on ‘Questions’, looking at questions God asks us, we looked at the question Jesus asked His disciples after He had calmed the storm on the lake (see Matt 8:33-37, Mark 4:35-41, Luke 8:22-25) Although phrased slightly differently in each gospel, the question linked faith and fear inextricably: Where is your faith?’ (Luke 8:25), ‘You of little faith, why are you so afraid?’ (Matt 8:26) and “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (Mark 4:40)

Faith and fear could be said to be opposites. Faith is that assurance that God is in control and that we don’t have to see to believe; Heb 11:1 defines faith in this way: ‘faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.’ (Heb 11:1) J. B. Phillips translates this verse, ‘faith means putting our full confidence in the things we hope for, it means being certain of things we cannot see.’ The Message version says that faith ‘is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living.’ The Bible reminds us that without faith, it’s impossible to please God (Heb 11:6) and in Hebrews 11, it takes us through a litany of people who showed us what faith looks like. These people were not perfect; they often got things wrong. Even the ‘great heroes’ of the Bible like Abraham and Moses made mistakes: Abraham did not wait for God’s timing, but slept with his wife’s servant to try to hurry things along so that he could have the heir he longed for; Moses committed murder to try to sort out problems his own way. The common theme for all these heroes is that they lived by faith rather than by sight, however.

Fear came into the world when sin came (see Gen 3:10). Before sin, there was no fear. There was no need for fear. Fear came as the consequence of disobedience, and as a result, mankind has been prone to fear, fearing punishment, condemnation and judgment. Many of us rationalise fear and accept fear as the consequence of living in a fallen world. We may even feel the disciples were right to be afraid in a storm that placed them in danger. But Jesusoffers us an alternative way to live, a way without fear, the way of faith and confidence in God. He’s asleep on a cushion. (Mark 4:38) He’s not panicking. He’s not thinking about drowning. He’s not shouting and ranting and in a state. He’s asleep. And even when He’s woken up and sees the situation, He doesn’t join in the panic and hysteria of the disciples. He simply gets up, rebukes the wind, speaks stillness into the waves and then proceeds to dig deeper into the disciples’ hearts. ‘Why are you so afraid?’ He asks.

‘You of little faith, why are you so afraid?’ In linking faith and fear, in showing them that faith is not compatible with fear, they were reminded that actually, they had had no reason to fear. Jesus was with them. He might have been sleeping, but He had not abandoned them. Had He not said to them, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” (Luke 8:22, Mark 4:35) Why, therefore, should they have doubted that they would reach that destination safely? Did they not realise who Jesus was? The One who made the entire universe was not going to be swamped and killed by a few waves. Jesus was still in control. In asking this question, Jesus is effectively saying, ‘why are you living like the rest of the world, fearful, doubting, uncertain and insecure? You are my followers. You belong to me. Where, then, is your faith?’ This is a question that comes to us all today with piercing force. We have the opportunity to choose faith over fear. What will we do?

Garry continued his series on Joseph this morning, reading from Gen 39:2-6. Here, we see how the Lord was with Joseph, how Joseph lived under God’s favour (see also Gen 26:28, Josh 6:27, 1 Sam 3:19 for other examples of this.) God’s favour is not a divine charm, available only for a favoured few; it is for all who will walk in humble obedience to Him. To live with God’s favour is to truly prosper; the ‘prosperity gospel’ is not to be measured in terms of wealth or health but in terms of our relationship to God. Jesus was not wealthy; He was supported by other people; Paul had to work to support himself as a missionary. We must understand prosperity always in relation to God. Joseph may not have always liked what was happening to him, but we are told that he prospered because others saw God’s hand on his life. God was a major part of his life; he lived with reference to God at all times.

Joseph’s life was one of substance. He was found to be trustworthy, so he was trusted; he was found to be reliable, so others relied on him. He was found to be a responsible person and so he was given responsibility. At each level, he fulfilled expectations because he honoured God in everything he did. We too should seek to be like Joseph, being salt and light in our communities. As our church name implies, we need to be involved in our communities; our mission aim is to be ‘with God in the community, with God for the community.’ As we do this, we can move forward, develop and prosper, as Joseph did.

The real prosperity gospel is not one for personal gain and blessing; this is selfish and focuses only on the now; it does not touch the heart of God. The real prosperity gospel is one where we walk with God so closely, know Him so well that we touch His heart and that flows out to everything we do and everyone we meet. The real prosperity gospel is about giving, about giving His life to everyone around us. To prosper is not about having an easy time, but about moving forward with God every step of the way. Like the Star Trek Vulcan blessing, we can then live long and prosper!

Last Sunday was Fathers’ Day and Dave spoke about the fatherhood of God, using 1 John 3:1 and 1 Cor 4:15 as the basis of his sermon. The whole topic of fatherhood has been downplayed greatly in recent years, partly perhaps as a reaction against a patriarchal society and the rise of feminism and partly because so many people have been brought up with absent fathers and therefore find it difficult to understand God as a father. Nonetheless, fatherhood is God’s idea, and the role of the father is central to God’s dealings with mankind. Even from early childhood, Jesus Himself constantly referred to God as His Father and very often referred to God as our Father. The prayer that He taught His disciples starts with those very words – Our Father.

John reminds us that we are children of God and that this relationship is based on love, not duty. Like all children, we have rebelled against Him, we have given Him grief, we have objected to His guidance and His care. But like all fathers, He has continued to love us and to care for us, through thick and thin.

Dave looked at 5 characteristics of the fatherhood of God:

1. He is our creator, our maker, and takes immense joy in the fact we are made in His image.

2. He is our provider (Matt 6:31-33), taking care of our every need.

3. He is our protector (Ps 50:15), looking after us and keeping us safe.

4. He gives us peace and joy, providing us with comfort and meaning in life.

5. He gives us eternal life. Earthly fathers can’t do this, but the life God gives us is eternal. (John 6:47)

One of the Anglican prayers for Evensong is ‘lighten our darkness, we beseech Thee, O Lord.’ It’s a prayer I often pray, rooted as it is in the imagery of light and darkness found in the Bible. Light dispels darkness; light brings illumination and clarity. John reminds us that ‘God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.’ (1 John 1:5) Darkness speaks to us of shadow and threat, fear and uncertainty, but light brings us to a place of freedom and joy.

Another prayer I often pray is ‘lighten our load, Lord.’ Here, the word ‘lighten’ means ‘to make lighter, less heavy’, and speaks of the burdens and loads we carry. Jesus urged us to come to Him when we are weary and burdened, to exchange the yoke of slavery – always being driven to do more and to earn favour rather than experiencing ‘the unforced rhythms of grace’ as the Message version of Matt 11:28-30 puts it- for His easy yoke. So many of the burdens we carry in life are ones God never intended to be on our shoulders; He is the God who ‘daily bears our burdens.’ (Ps 68:19) When we lay our burdens down at His feet, we can walk tall.

God’s lightening (not to be confused with the word ‘lightning’!) is what enables us to see clearly and walk freely. LIghten our darkness, Lord; lighten our load.