Do Not Be Afraid

Angels tend to start their communication by saying this. Jesus said it on numerous occasions.

Apparently these words appear in the Bible 365 times, though I am not going to suggest we verify this just now. The important thing is that God clearly doesn’t want us to be scared.

2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

2 Timothy 1:7 NIV UK

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 

This reminder from Paul to Timothy can be taken 2 ways. It can be a powerful reminder of Gods spirit at work in our lives. Or it can be a guilt inducing weapon thrown at us when we feel frightened.

How many of you, at some point or many, have felt a sense of fear or even deep dread of the times or circumstances? Only for someone to tell you there is no place for fear if we truly believe.

At the time of fear this is certainly not encouraging. In fact, it can make you feel isolated and our “spirits” can take quite a knock.

For many, the past 18 months have been unsettling, scary and have caused an underlying fear of the future, a sense of insecurity and uncertainty, that often has been lived out alone. The worldwide pandemic has felt like a storm that goes on and on and there is no escape from its influence. We may not be scared for our health, but we may fear for our livelihood, our business or our freedom to see family across the world or how to put food on the table.

So where is our faith? Why do we not wake up each morning feeling victorious? 

Because we are human!

Matthew 8:23-27 NIV UK

Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, ‘Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!’

He replied, ‘You of little faith, why are you so afraid?’ Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

The men were amazed and asked, ‘What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!

Now they were all in the same boat. Quite literally. These are the disciples, those closest to Jesus. The ones we would imagine would have the deepest level of trust and confidence in the Saviour. They spend most of their time with him, work alongside him, chat with him over meals. They have seen first-hand his miracles and his power. And he is IN THE BOAT with them. OK so he is enjoying a snooze but at least he is present.

And then comes the storm. And they are terrified, convinced the end is near and they will all drown.

About 30 years ago a friend and I decided to do a fund raising stunt for our Youth Ministry back in England. We called it Go West. The idea was to launch our small motor boat off the beach and head west as far as we could go in one day. The church members (who all thought we were crazy) were asked to sponsor us per mile, and also guess how far we would get. The guess work showed a distinct lack of faith in our boating skills.

The outward journey was smooth and great fun. We decided to turn back at the southern tip of the Isle of Wight as the sea was becoming choppy. That was the precursor to a full on storm on the way back.

I fully sympathize with the disciples. My friend and I were scared, terrified. In our little boat (about 12 feet long) we were tossed and thrown about for several hours and soaked to the skin. We survived. How else would I be writing this?

But the interesting thing is, that half way through the storm, we started praying, we remembered in our fear that Jesus was with us, and we started to feel calm, even though the storm was still raging.

In the boat, Jesus woke up and rebuked the waves and they fell calm. 

We can fully trust Jesus in all situations. Even when we feel helpless, overwhelmed, even terrified.

He has the power and authority to intervene in all circumstances. Jesus is not going to heap guilt on us every time we feel uncertain or afraid. But he will say, ‘You of little faith, why are you so afraid?’

Each time we look to Jesus to help us through our fears, our insecurities and our difficult situations our faith will grow a little stronger. Because we will find that he is faithful, we can put our trust in him, that he has our lives in his hands.

When your cry is ‘Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!’ Remember that he is right there beside you in the boat.