FEAR VS. FAITH: OUR CALL

The disciples woke him up, saying, "Save us, Lord! We're going to die!" But Jesus reprimanded them. "Why are you gripped with fear? Where is your faith?" - Matthew 8:25-26 TPT

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Fear. It is so easy to look around at what we are facing and trust anxiety to guide us to safety. Or, if you're like me, to spin you into a google rabbit hole of "how can I learn enough about this topic to fight off any fear that wakes me up at 3:00 AM with the dreaded question - what if?."

The disciples were in with Jesus in the physical, and they even gave into the bait of fear. Let's take a look at what happened to the disciples during this passage of Matthew.

"23 Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping." Matthew 8:23-24 TPT

The Passion Translation footnotes suggest the storm was not a simple thunderstorm in the ocean. It says, "Or an earthquake. This could have been a tremor that caused tidal waves that swamped their boat. Most expositors equate this instead of the shaking of a violent storm." If waves were at the point of almost tipping over the boat I was on (in a LAKE- need I mind you, they weren't in the ocean) due to an EARTHQUAKE, I would have been panicking right alongside the disciples. Having faith in a time of immediate danger or a near-death experience is incredibly difficult personally. This has been the fear that's wrestled with me for years—dying prematurely. And while it's most definitely in human nature to react to a life-threatening situation in fear, Jesus reprimands his disciples for responding this way.

They all got into a boat and began to cross over to the other side of the lake. And Jesus, exhausted, fell asleep. Suddenly a violent storm developed, with waves so high the boat was about to be swamped. Yet Jesus continued to sleep soundly. The disciples woke him up, saying, "Save us, Lord! We're going to die!" But Jesus reprimanded them. "Why are you gripped with fear? Where is your faith?" - Matthew 8:23-27 TPT

He called them higher. Out of their feelings. Out of their immediate reactions in the flesh to protect themselves. He asks why they are trusting the feelings of fear.

Why are you gripped with fear?

Jesus did not come to have us, sons and daughters, bound by fear and anxiety. He came to give us life and life abundantly through Holy Spirit's power, grace, and love. If we are Christians but are not filled with the transformative power of Holy Spirit, responding in the flesh can be an easy default response to fear. Jesus asks:

Where is your faith?

The Future

23 So wake up, Lord God! Why would you sleep when we're in trouble? Are you forsaking us forever? 24 You can't hide your face any longer from us! How could you forget our agonizing sorrow? 25 Now we lay facedown, sinking into the dust of death, the quicksand of the grave. 26 Arise, awake, and come to help us, O Lord. Let your unfailing love save us from this sorrow!" - Psalms 44:23 TPT

Faith comes from knowing Who God is.

Safe and Secure

1 When you abide under the shadow of Shaddai, you are hidden in the strength of God Most High. 2 He's the hope that holds me and the stronghold to shelter me, the only God for me, and my great confidence. 3 He will rescue you from every hidden trap of the enemy, and he will protect you from false accusation and any deadly curse. 4 His massive arms are wrapped around you, protecting you. You can run under his covering of majesty and hide. His arms of faithfulness are a shield keeping you from harm. 5 You will never worry about an attack of demonic forces at night nor have to fear a spirit of darkness coming against you. 6 Don't fear a thing! - Psalms 91:1-6

The nature of God is to protect his children. We are called to believe he is a good father, even when our situation looks bleak. As disciples, we are designed to get to know God on such a personal level that we trust Him at his word. We are to study the very nature of God and have faith that we are protected in Him. Our confidence in whose we are propels us to speak life into dark situations, move mountains, and change our circumstances.

We are looking to Jesus as an example of how we are meant to walk through our daily life, filled with faith, praying for, believing for, and seeing miracles through the power of Holy Spirit:

Then he stood and rebuked the storm, saying, "Be still!" And instantly, it became perfectly calm. The disciples were astonished by this miracle and said to one another, "Who is this Man? Even the wind and waves obey his Word." -