Why Do I Fear

Why are you afraid,

O you of little Faith?

        Matthew 8:26

     Matthew chapter eight gives insight into many who believed in Christ and healing followed. A leper approached Jesus saying, “Lord…you can make me clean.” Jesus healed him with a touch. A Centurion spoke, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” Jesus healed the servant from a distance because of the great faith of the Centurion.

     When Jesus entered Peter’s house, He found Peter’s mother-in-law “lying sick with a fever”. One touch by the Savior broke her fever, and she rose and began serving. Later many who were demon possessed and those with other illnesses were brought to Jesus. Matthew 8:16 tells us that Jesus “cast out spirits with a word and healed all who were sick.”

     Yet after seeing all these things, when His disciple’s boat began to fill with water and appeared to be going down as Jesus slept peacefully, they woke Him saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” Panic!

     I can see the muscles on their faces—tightened by fear. I can see them as they huddle together while the Master sleeps peacefully. I can hear their shouts over the tumultuous sea as they question how He could sleep in the midst of the storm. Can you hear them? Doesn’t He feel the boat rocking? Doesn’t He hear the thunder? Can’t He see the flashes of lightening?  Doesn’t He understand that we are about to perish?

     After all they had been through with Christ, after all the miracles, after the walks and the talks with the Master—fear, panic, uncertainty! Jesus spoke one sentence to His disciples. “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then He got up, rebuked the winds and the sea, “and there was a great calm.”

     Don’t be too hard on His disciples. After all, don’t we do the same thing? Haven’t we seen the mighty works of our Father? Haven’t we had personal experience with answered prayer? In the midst of tragedy, haven’t we been washed with the peace that surpasses all of our human understanding?

     And yet, like the disciples, we sometimes still fear when the enemy assaults us with a fresh encounter of doubt and anxiety. We may forget to remember…just for a moment!

     So the next time you find yourself in the midst of circumstances that drive you to fear, remember. Remember what you have seen the Lord do in the past. Remember that God is good. Remember that nothing comes into our lives without passing through the hand of God. Remember that we already walk in victory when we walk in faith! Remember God’s Word, His promises are true. Then ask yourself, “Why do I fear?”

 

©JP 2013