Afraid

But He said to them: ¨Why are you so afraid, you with little faith?¨  Matthew 8:26 (New World Translation)

Jesus was sleeping peacefully in the boat, but the followers of Jesus were undergoing a very frightful test.  It is a pretty scary thing when you are at the mercy of the winds and seas.  Even the bravest of souls will realize their frail hold on life and their complete lack of power against the elements.  Great sailors who are accustomed to storms at sea will also recognize that they are no match against the forces of nature.

But when the Disciples woke Jesus in their panic, the first thing He did was to rebuke them.

This may seem a little unfair when considering the circumstances.  They could easily have been swamped by the waves and the danger was very real to them.  Isn´t it natural to be afraid when your life is being threatened?

However natural it may be, it did not seem to please Jesus.  But why?

Jesus, being who He was, the Son of God.  Came down from His lofty and rightful place at the right hand of God above, and although He subjected Himself to inhabit a human body and live as you and I, He could still see clearly the things of that greater realm and existence.  He knew the dangers we face here but He did not place the same value upon the things that make us afraid.

Our Savior constantly tried to show us that our real danger was to our soul and our intended place by His side.  Jesus showed by example which things we should be afraid of and never did He encourage us in the fears that we are accustomed to having.  Our lives, health, careers, comfort, possessions, all were made small or overlooked so as not to be stumbling block.  He did not want us to confuse these concerns with the real dangers to our life in Him.

This may be fine you say, we should all be concerned with our eternal destiny and this we Christians try to do daily by worship and how we conduct ourselves.  But obviously this is not enough.  The rebuke still stands.  When Jesus sees us fearing the situations that confront us, no matter how life-threatening, He can only have this response for us.  ¨You of little faith, Why are you afraid¨?

It is true that we are not like Jesus in that we cannot see clearly into this ¨other realm¨.  But He has asked us to have faith.  We need to imitate Him and look up.  God has His plan for us.  He still is in command.  He is at work and actively engaged with His creation.  Nothing that confronts us has escaped His attention or is out His control.  He has told us this and we must take Him at His word.

So then for you and me, it remains that we wrap ourselves so completely in Him, that we do not see the passing scenes and situations of the world as we are used to doing.  It takes an advanced faith, it´s true.  But it can be this way for the ones who truly choose.  There are those even today, who have decided to make Jesus bigger than their own life.

There are Christians, who look so determinedly at Jesus and the Father, that whatever faces them only serves to strengthen their love and dependence on the Divine.  If something threatens this kind of servant, it is not perceived as a threat, but an opportunity for the Lord to be glorified.  This sort of Christian would give anything to lift the Lord higher or serve Him a little harder.  Don´t you think that the God who made and controls the elements would be holding very tenderly this special Christian to protect and care for them?

There are many testimonies of miraculous times when God intervened and the earthly life was spared for believing souls.  God cares for us even when we cannot see how we may survive the danger which confronts us.  If we can only begin to have a little faith in His attributes and concerns, all things begin to take their perfect course for us.  If one should die while standing this firm on their trust of their Lord, the loss is not an eternal one.

We live in Him, now on earth we are only scarcely realizing just how or how much.  But that what we do not see, is far more valuable and everlasting.  Less attention and concern should be given on our part today to this temporary world.  It is true that it is full of danger.  But too many times we confuse the danger of what is real, and are concerned with only the things we see here and our earthly interpretation.

Let us pray that Jesus fill us and help us to have a faith in Him.  Let us burn for an understanding of what is important and what is vital for real life.  Regardless of what may confront us while we walk here on earth, let us look beyond it unto the kingdom everlasting and the One who cares for us.

Perhaps then, all the slights and dangers which could mount against us could be viewed in another light.  Maybe even, when the waves swamp the boat and the winds drive us out of control, we could look not at those things but rather to Him in a simple yet intent faith.

Don´t you think the scene would seem different if we knew what the Lord was really preparing to show us through that same situation?

Bring on the storm, dear Lord.  Then help us to look to You and not to our fears.

Amen

Scott W