Fear. It can paralyze us or send us running for cover. It seems to be in our nature to look at our circumstances, and at times be held hostage to our feelings. Our moods sometimes rise and fall with our feelings, and we can easily be overcome with anxiety and fear when faced with trying times, or the unknown.
Even the disciples experienced fear, though Jesus was physically there with them. We wonder how they could be afraid of anything, when the Son of God was in their midst. But, we are reminded that they were human, and while we look at the scriptures as third person observers, they were living the things we now read about which seem clear to us. I think of the passage in Mark 4 where Jesus and the disciples were on a boat and a great storm came upon them. The Scripture says the waves were breaking into the boat, but Jesus was comfortably asleep on the stern. They woke him up in fear, and he did calm the storm, but then admonished them for their lack of faith. He spoke peace into the circumstances and then asked, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” We tend to forget quickly all the ways God has been with us in the past, to look at our situation rather than our Savior.
But sometimes fear is more subtle. It is often easier to keep the status quo than to venture out into the choppy waters where faith is required. I find it interesting the people who witnessed the miracle and the transformation of the demon possessed man in Mark 5 were afraid AFTER he had been delivered, and not before, even though he was described as “living among the tombs,” and that “no one could bind him anymore, even with a chain. For he had often been chained, hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.” This is quite a scary picture, yet it was only after the demons were cast out, and they saw the man “clothed and in his right mind,” that the people were described as fearful. Perhaps they were afraid of the power to which the transformation bore witness.
Fear of change is often one of our greatest fears, particularly when the change is to take place within ourselves. Are we afraid of the transformation that is inevitable in a fully surrendered life? How often do we settle for living on the edge of the water, so to speak, instead of diving in where the water is deep, but where still deeper faith is required? You can only wade around in the shallows, you cannot swim.
Are we satisfied with where we are, or maybe where we have been for a long time? Or is there a desire to venture forward, into the unknown? Maybe God is calling you to give something in the way of material possessions, or to open your home to someone with a need, or to mentor someone.
Fear can stop us from fulfilling God’s purposes for our lives, from stepping out and stepping up. Dear One, listen to that “still, small voice” that may be nudging you, and move forward, knowing that faith is greater than your fear.
Life By The Way 