>Being afraid – AGAIN

>There is a story in the Bible where Jesus stills the sea – Mark 4: 35-41 to be exact– here it is:

37 But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.

38 Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”

39 When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. 40 Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

41 The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!”

Now I can understand being terrified by a storm. I can’t even swim at this age! I know – I need to learn. I just can’t seem to float! Maybe I’ll just have to learn to walk on water instead..

We are all just like the disciples. When we go through a storm, we are astonished that Jesus can be found sleeping. While death encroaches us, we face our darkest fears and cannot believe that our supposed God is fast asleep. We Christians find comfort in the fact that our God has every ability to calm the storm – but there is something mroe intriguing about the disciples’ response.

In verse 41, it is noted that they are absolutely terrified after Jesus stills the waters. This is rather interesting isn’t it? Of course we can understand their fear in the midst of the storm, but can we fathom why they would be terrified after Jesus meets their needs – after Jesus rescues them? Why would they be terrified at this point? What would make them afraid, again?

I would suggest that this fear is something that strikes far closer to home than we realize. This is a fear that comes after a breakthrough. This is much like the uncertainty that lurks directly after a blessing and miracle from God. It is a different kind of fear. It is a fear that is not completely unrelated from your fear during the storm. However, it is a fear that we must deal with. In some cases, overcoming this feeling can mark the difference between experiencing the fullness of what God is doing versus just scraping the tip of the iceberg.

When God rescues us in our time of need, there is a greater dependence that we now have on His involvement and activity in our life. This can be scary because our allegiances get shifted, our priorities get re-organized, and our old needs/desires begin tearing apart. After witnessing a work of God, we must deal with ourselves with complete honesty. We have nothing but objective truth and faith to wrestle with. We are forced to look at our eggs and figure out which basket is worth investing into. These are typical questions that arise: 1) Was it really God that did that miracle 2) Should I expect such things all the time? 3) What am I going to do if He decides to keep sleeping and waits until my boat topples over next time? 4) Do I really have to leave my old ways behind, or can I just call Him when necessary?

These questions seem to pop up no matter how spiritual you think you are. In some ways, this fear is worse because it can last for a very long time. How do we get out of this? When you get an answer, let me know 🙂 But we shall investigate a bit more thoughts later this week.

Peace and much love to you – John Baptist!

One Response

  1. e.

    >Mark Study: Jesus was sleeping ON A CUSHION! 🙂