Fear Not: Believe Only

One phrase that is often quoted by general authorities is “Don’t take counsel from your fears.”  This does not come from the scriptures; apparently this phrase originated from General Stonewall Jackson in the 1800s and is now a common maxim in the Church.  A quick search online finds quotes from President Monson, President Faust, Elder Bednar, President Hunter and others using more or less this same phrase.  President Faust said it this way, “Let us not take counsel from our fears. May we remember always to be of good cheer, put our faith in God, and live worthy for Him to direct us” (Ensign, Oct. 2002, 6).  I think that here President Faust equates this non-scriptural phrase with its scriptural equivalent: put your faith in God.  Not taking counsel from our fears implies instead that we take counsel from our faith in God.  Jesus often spoke of both fear and faith.  To Jarius, who had just found out that his daughter was dead, He said, “Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole” (Luke 8:50).  That must have been no small battle in his mind between fear and belief; on the one hand, how could he not fear, having just heard that his daughter was dead?  On the other, here was this Man who seemed to exude so much power and confidence, so how could he not trust Him?  Jarius had to decide whether to believe this dreadful fear or to put trust in the Savior.  In modern day revelation the Lord spoke also about fear and faith.  Speaking of those committing grave sin, He said, “They shall not have the Spirit, but shall deny the faith and shall fear” (D&C 63:16).  Again we have this juxtaposition that if we do not have (the) faith, we will have fear.  Ultimately each day we face challenges in which we must decide whether we will allow ourselves to be motivated by fear—fear of failure, fear of difficulty, fear of the unknown, fear of the actions of others—or by faith in Jesus Christ.  The world, just like the servant who told Jarius that his daughter was dead, will usually encourage us to fear to one degree or another.  But the Savior stands always beckoning, “Fear not: believe only.”