Living Courageously: You Can Face Anything, Just Do It Afraid by Joyce Meyer Page B

was far too old to do so. Many people have done seemingly impossible things by faith. They have received strength beyond their natural ability, as when Samson killed 1,000 men with the jawbone of a donkey (see Judges 15:16). History tells of those who believed in God that were burned at the stake while they sang praise to God. I, for one, don’t know how that would even be remotely possible without a strong faith in God. I know for sure that fear didn’t urge them to sing while they were burning.
    Faith is leaning entirely on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness (see Colossians 1:4). Faith believes for something good to happen. It believes that God can do what would be impossible with man. Faith contains creative power.
    Faith believes what it cannot see yet. It believes in its heart, not with its eyes. You can choose to believe in your heart that something wonderful is about to happen. Believe that God’s poweris in you and that you need not fear anything because He has promised to be with you always. Wake up every morning with an enthusiasm for the day. You might not awake every day feeling especially enthusiastic (I know that I don’t) but we can decide to believe and expect good things, and as soon as we do, enthusiasm begins to fill our soul.
    You can do something that nobody else on Earth can do exactly the way you can do it. Celebrate your specialness and explore the potential of each day. Don’t waste your day shrinking back from life in fear, for today is all we truly have. Be open to all your possibilities and above all, always believe in miracles!
    Do You Believe?
    One day a six-year-old girl was sitting in a classroom. The teacher was going to explain evolution to the children. The teacher asked a little boy if he could see the grass outside. “Yes, teacher, I see the grass.” The boy’s name was Tommy so the teacher said, “Tommy, go outside and look up and see if you can see the sky. He returned in a few minutes, “Yes, I saw the sky.” The teacher asked, “Did you see God?” “No, teacher, I didn’t see God.” The teacher said, “Well, class, that is my point. We cannot see God because He isn’t there.”
    A little girl spoke up and wanted to know if she could ask the boy some questions. The teacher agreed and the little girl asked: “Tommy, do you see the tree outside?” He responded, “Yes, I see the tree.” She asked, “Do you see the grass?” He said, “Yes, I see the grass.” “Do you see the sky? Do you see the teacher?” Tommy said, “Yesssss,” and his voice tone indicated that he was tired of answering questions. The little girl finally asked, “Do you see the teacher’s brain?” Tommy said, “No, I don’t see her brain.” The little girl said,“Then according to what we were taught today that means she must not have one.” We walk by faith and not by sight (see 2 Corinthians 5:7).
    I would venture to say that the six-year-old girl was wiser and probably had more joy than the teacher. If we are only able to believe what we see with our natural eyes, we lack true vision and have no ability to dream. We have no faith, and where there is no faith, fear will always rule and torment.
    If we are only able to believe what we see with our natural eyes, we lack true vision and have no ability to dream.
    Just as I believe that faith has creative power, I also believe that fear contains creative power. Fear believes that something bad will happen, and we see over and over that if a person consistently believes something awful will take place, then it usually does. Take the example of people who have phobias concerning germs and disease. They are constantly afraid of getting sick, and then the stress of their negative belief frequently makes them sick. Quite often I have witnessed someone experience a problem and then heard them say, “I was afraid that was going to happen,” or, “I knew that was going to happen.” They had already