| I am struck by the common thread of fear in the two stories from Luke 8 today. The disciples were afraid that Jesus would not save them from a powerful storm, and then the townspeople were overcome with a "great wave of fear" after Jesus saved a demon-possessed man from a life of torture and misery. Like these people, are we sometimes afraid that Jesus won't act in our lives, at the same time we are afraid that He will? We seem to want to have it both ways - for God to act when we ask, and stay silent when we do not. In the midst of our personal storms, we plead for God to intervene, as we should. " Master, Master....mend my marriage...save my job...rescue my children....help me. You're mighty, Jesus; I know you can do anything because even the wind and the waves obey You. Please show that power in my life." Whether we like to admit it or not, we also occasionally ask God to stay silent. "Lord, I know this person I'm dating is not a believer, but I still want this relationship to work.....they don't know I'm a Christian at school, so please don't ask me to share my faith....if I refuse to take part in that questionable deal at work, I might lose my job. I just want my life to be easy, Lord...please don't ask too much of me." God's mercy, authority, righteousness and purpose never change. They do not change with my circumstances, and He does not need my permission to intercede in my life. Sometimes, He miraculously calms the storms in and around me, and sometimes He does not. Other times He allows my comfort or sense of entitlement to fall away and I feel like the farmers did while watching their 'security' go over the edge of a cliff. His ways are not my ways - will I trust Him with my fear? Or will I follow the example of the townspeople and ask Him to go away and leave me alone? Psalm 27:1 says "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid?" This day, and every day for that matter, God asks me to allow His perfect love to cast out my fears. Whether He acts on my behalf or not...when He asks much of me or little.....I will still trust Him. Of whom, or of what, shall I be afraid? Karen | |||
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Thursday, March 29, 2007
Living With Fear
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3 comments:
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I liked your thoughts Karen. Trusting in the Lord is such an issue. I know people who would never even consider praying in any situation or relying on God. They call themselves Christians and may go to a church, but the whole concept of God in their lives, directing, guiding,or just plain affecting it, seems like a foriegn idea. In reality, I think they prefer that God stay at arms length.
Yet, even those of us who claim to have a relationship with Christ find it so hard to turn it over to him really -and all the way. "Yikes, what will really happen"says this little voice in our head. "The last time I turned it over, stuff happened that I could never have predicted."
It takes time. Trust builds in any relationship and so it does with God also. Each time you trust Him, you will be more at ease to trust again and again. "If God is for us, who can be against us." It works for me.
You are definitely right - people are often afraid of their own potential that Christ gives them, because it's unknown and makes us uncomfortable. It involves giving up something in our world. It can be hard to pray: "Lord, shape me into your image and let your calling for my life be my desire". That's the kind of relationship he wants with us, yet we are often reluctant to give it to him. I think one of the first steps you can take when you have fears about what the Lord is doing or might do in your life is to pray that his will becomes your heart's desire.
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