Fear ... the opposite of faith

I would say that I'm a pretty optimistic person.  I tend to look at the glass as half full .. unless I'm tired ;)  I think JJ has gotten this from me.   She stayed home from school one day last week because she wasn't feeling well.  She told me she was "a little great ... when you feel a little great you stay home from school.  When you feel really great you go to school".  Talk about a good attitude despite being sick.

Being an optimistic person, these past few weeks have been interesting for me.  I've been dealing a lot with fear.  I feel like a lot of things have been thrown my way and I was starting to feel like I was sinking.  I was beginning to feel fearful.  Things like fear don't disappear overnight, but I'm slowly working it out.  I found myself talking to people normally on the outside while thinking on the inside about all the terrible things that could happen.  

I was talking to my mom one night and she told me that the opposite of faith is fear.  I have always considered myself a person who has a lot of faith.   Despite ups and downs we have always felt so blessed.  Is it possible to experience faith and fear at the same time?  I think it's normal to be fearful of things, but I don't think it should consume our lives.  God taught us not to live in fear, but to trust in Him.  It's very confusing to experience fear and faith at the same time.  We know that bad things can happen to us, but God promises to never leave us ... even when we experience fear.


In some ways my life is turning out exactly how I dreamed it would, but in other ways it's not turning out how I planned it.  When several things pile up it's hard to think clearly anymore.  I'm sure lots of you have experienced this at some point in your life.  How am I dealing with this?  Well,  I'm surrounding myself with positive things and trying to get rid of negative things being thrown my way.  I'm choosing to talk.  I'm choosing to sing.  I'm choosing to believe that God is in control .  I can't believe how much better I feel when I focus on the things that I know to be true and not on the things that could happen.  I am a blessed woman.