Fear or Faith

There are so many things going on in our world today where we experience fear or faith. The struggle between fear and faith is real for all of us. It’s like a bipolar nature of every Christian who still has sin inside of them. It doesn’t seem to matter how long we’ve walked with Jesus or how many times we’ve seen Him do miraculous things.

Maybe you can relate to some of these:

• We’re afraid that money will run short and we won’t be able to pay our bills.
• We’re afraid of looking stupid, so we don’t ask questions that would help us grow in our faith.
• We’re afraid of what people will think if they really get close to know us, we find it more comfortable to hide rather than to be open and vulnerable.

I’m right there with you. Fear collides with faith more often than I realize. What we say and what we do is often rooted in fear and not motivated by the presence and power of the Lord.

Let’s take a look at a familiar story in Mark 6. Jesus had spent the day teaching, feeding and generally ministering to the people. His disciples were on a boat in the middle of the lake while Jesus was alone on the land.

Around 3:00 AM, Jesus noticed the disciples were in trouble as the wind and the waves were causing them to struggle.

But then the miraculous happened, Jesus came toward them.

Let’s read Mark 6:50-51

“They were all terrified when they saw him. But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage! I am here!” Then he climbed into the boat, and the wind stopped. They were totally amazed”

In all the fear, in all the trouble, what did Jesus say? Don’t be afraid. That’s the last thing you want to be when you are terrified.

“Then He climbed into the boat, and the wind stopped. They were totally amazed.”

God loves you so much that He will climb into your boat. When the wind and waves terrify you. When you see things you can’t explain, you can call out to Jesus and He will climb in your boat.

The wind and the waves obey Him.

If you are struggling with fear today, cry out to Jesus. He says in Mark 6:50, “I am here”. What we see looks terrifying, but to Jesus, he says, “take courage”.

We see this again in John 16:33.

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

Because of my faith, I walk toward the thing that I would normally run away from. We live in a time of uncertainty where we don’t know what tomorrow brings and that can be terrifying.

Allow the Lord to comfort you today and “take courage” because He has overcome the world. Nothing in this world surprises Him. Nothing is out of reach for our God.