My life, like Becky s, has had to be about learning to overcome fear. My fear of failure means I lack the faith that God will always love me. I m convinced, Beck, that courage flows out of faith and, therefore, that struggles with fear are, in fact, struggles with faith. Each part is significant. The assurance of things hoped for means that there is real world outside the matrix of the fall, a world for which we long where all our dreams come true.
Faith is the assurance that that really real world exists.
The hope inspires us, motivates us to have courage. It chooses to believe, against appearances, that God really is in control, that evil has no real power over me. Faith gives me courage to look through the darkness, see beyond the evil in my path, face death with the conviction that I m not dying, I m being reborn. Courage and faith are not the same thing, but courage is born of faith. The greater my faith, the more courageous I can be.