Why are you afraid?

And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?" Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!" And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?" And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, "Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!" – Matthew 4.37-41

Fear. We all know it. We all know its power. We all know its debilitating effect on us. Fear can stop us from getting started and it can stop us dead in our tracks. It can keep us awake at night.

Fear is also a natural response to the unknown. We fear because we feel that we cannot control the situation. Fear is nothing new. Adam and Eve were afraid of God when they sinned in the garden.

The disciples were not immune to fear. They were in a storm on their fishing boat. Jesus was asleep when a storm blew up. I have never been there, but from what I have heard and read the storms on the Sea of Galilee are serious storms. The disciples were afraid and could not believe that Jesus would just lay there asleep while they were in such danger.

‘Jesus, wake up, don’t you care that we are going to die?’

He woke up and simply said ‘Peace, be still’ and the sea went calm. He dealt with their immediate fears before He dealt with their hearts. I like that because it reminds me that there are times when Jesus does something to deal with the cause of our fear. Sometimes He has lessons for us in the storms, and sometimes He will deal with the storm itself.

Then He dealt with their hearts. ‘Why are you afraid? Is your faith so weak?’

God is not the author of fear. He may give us wisdom or discernment or common sense, but He does not give us fear. He is the author of power, and love, and of soundness of mind. When we are afraid of our situation and we don’t choose to trust though the fear it is because we are weak in faith. When we stay afraid we are not trusting God.

We have young children in the house again. Just like our kids when they were little when they are afraid they run to us to be held and cuddled. When they are afraid, they trust us to sort things out. They have enough faith vanquish their fear in our arms.

I wonder how often we have that kind of childlike faith to trust our heavenly Father when we are afraid.