Fearless Faith

Fearless Faith
By Bishop Vashti McKenzie
This week's topic: Faith In God


Anyone with sense at all would want to live without trouble in his or her lives. If we could, we’d live without disappointments, mistakes, mishaps or mix-ups. We would never see a dark day, dark side or a dark cloud in the sky.


We would love to live without ever having an argument or uttering a harsh word to friend, family or foe. There would be no stress, tension, tension headaches, worry lines, wrinkled foreheads, ulcers, or premature gray hair.

Imagine days where friends would always be friendly, lovers would always be attentive, spouses would always be considerate, parents would always be charming and children would always make you proud. If we could, we’d live without failure and regrets would always be few. Pain would permanently be removed from the vocabulary. Suffering would be a figment of someone’s imagination and heartache would be songs sung for fun.

In a perfect world, tragedy wouldn’t know where you live. Temptation would never call your name, sin doesn’t know you, and evil would never catch up to you. But this is not a perfect world. Upsets occur, disappointment knocks, problems come and go, and into this life some rain must fall. Yes, in this life, we shall have tribulation, says Jesus, but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world!

The psalmist didn’t live in a perfect world either. Psalm 27, traditionally attributed to David, is filled with crises. There are the wicked, enemies, foes, hostility, army, trouble and false witnesses who breathe out violence. He seems to be surrounded by intimidating people and events that threaten his existence.

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" - Psalm 27: 1 (KJV)


The psalmist is faced with a choice. He could choose fear or faith. The psalmist meets these issues with a confession of faith in God. God, who is my light, expels the darkness of fears and enemies. God, who is my salvation, can rescue and saved me, so whom shall I fear? God, who is my strength and refuge, thus whom shall I be afraid?

David overcomes fear with faith, by putting God first. He no longer depends upon others or himself. But he depends on a God who provides a triple shield of light, salvation and strength. In our daily walk, we are tempted to take the word of others over the Word of God. We seek first the media reports, and then seek the face God.

David overcomes fear with a personal faith. He uses possessive pronouns in his confession of faith, my light, my salvation and my strength. This is the same David who said the Lord is my Shepard. What lifts him is not a second hand faith, but a faith that grows out of a deep relationship with God. He overcomes fear with a faith that has a memory. In verse two, he remembers the triumphant of the past. In remembering, fear falls and faith rises.

Another songwriter sings “When I think of goodness of Jesus and all he’s done for me, my soul shouts hallelujah, I thank God for saving me.” We do not live in a perfect world. We would love to avoid crises, challenge and even change for the good. Fear is a real threat to our faith. Sometimes, we even make decisions based on what we are afraid of rather than on faith. We’re afraid this is going to happen, so we choose this direction. We’re afraid that someone will do this, and we choose another course of action.

In the face of financial foes, hostile job market, and a gushing oil well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico that continues to breathe out violence, our hand may become shaky on our shield of faith. David’s fearless faith gives us an example of how we can fight back. Put your personal faith in God into action by putting God first and remembering the victories of the past. The same God who got us through the last time is still able today.

Scripture Of The Day: So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God." - Mark 11:22 (NKJV)


Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie is the presiding bishop of the 13th Episcopal District of the AME, and serves as a guiding example for women and church leaders throughout the country. For more on Bishop McKenzie, visit http://www.13thame.com or hear her messages daily at http://www.thisisyourwakeupcallonline.com.…