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I have fears. I worry about things. Most people do. Some of us perhaps conceal our fear better, but if we are human it's there. It may be of extreme weather or natural disasters. It may be a fear of sickness or disease. We may worry about our families safety or our children when they are way at school. We may be afraid of car accidents or flying on airplanes. Some can't be in tight closed in spaces with out being overcome with fear. Some are afraid of water and drowning. Fear can overwhelm us.
Many fears seem to be connected with those things we feel like we can't control. Sometimes just a little control eases our fear even if it doesn't really change the fact that we don't have control over what will happen. The bottom line is we really don't have control over what will happen.
Listen to Matthew Chapter 14 
or read "Matthew 14:22-36"
"Come," he said.What an incredible event this was. The wind and waves are preventing the disciples from getting anywhere. Fear comes over them when they see a man walking out on the lake. It turns out to be Jesus. He is in complete control of nature walking across the lake like it was the desert.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" (Matthew 14:29-31)
... Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God." (Matthew 14:33)
Seeing Jesus defy nature Peter wants to try to do the same. After Jesus invited him out onto the water he gets out of the boat and walks towards Jesus. When he took his focus off Jesus and looked at the wind and the waves it was kicking up, doubt and fear overcame Peter, and the possible was impossible again. It is all about our focus. Are we focusing on our fears that lead to doubt or on the Lord who has the power to do the impossible?
Take note that even when we do focus on our fear and doubt, Jesus reaches out for us. Yes Jesus expressed disappointed in Peter but he still reached out for him and saved him. Jesus did not cut off the relationship. Peter remained a close disciple of Jesus. Perhaps Peter learned more from sinking. Perhaps he knew more clearly of his own weakness and more of the incredible power of Christ.
I don't want to focus on my fear I desire to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus. The one who has reached out to me in the midst of my fears and who has the power to do the impossible.
The above pen and ink sketches are titled "Christ Walking on the Waves" and were done by Rembrandt in the 1600's.
19 comments:
The LORD Jesus will never leave His people. If we refuse to hold His hand in times of needs, we fall, sometimes miserably.
Mercy Me, I think, has a great song about this, called Voice of Truth. This is a great theme and word for us, especially given today's economic and spirituial challenges. We do not need to look at circumstances, or at what others think; instead, we need to fix our eyes on the Author and Perfecter of our faith, the Lord Jesus Christ.
I was about to ask where you got the pictures until i reached the end. They were amazing illustrations.
Fear indeed starts when we start losing our focus on the Lord. This is the reason why we are commanded to fix our eyes on him our hope and our strength. Let's look up to him instead of looking down at us. Blessed post! God Bless you!
Here is a poem I wrote called "Of what worth"
Of what worth are the eyes
That have chosen their sight,
regardless of what they see?>
Or the ears that have heard,
something different being said,
not hearing obviously.
Of what worth are the hands
that offer no help?
Of no worth to you and me.
But oh that mine
were as Those that were hung
on the hill of calvary.
Thoughts?
A great message, and a timely one for me, as things at my job have been uncertain recently. I appreciate the encouragement of the message that you've shared here.
Thank you. That was a great post. It is so refreshing to hear the story again. I wish that more posts around the blogsphere would be this good.
Hebrew 12:2a says, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith." Focusing on the Lord and His promises drives away all fears. We only have to believe Him and trust in His unfailing love that He will do as He promised. Fear is the product of ignorance. Perfect love drives away all fears. Thanks for the post. God bless you always.
The opposite of faith is fear. If we take the time to look back on all our trials we will see that the Lord is always with us and he will never give us anything we cannot handle. Surrender everything to Him and pray, only He can save us and He will never abandon us. God bless...
Wenko
HappinessIsPrayer.blogspot.com
Very inspiring words for sure.
WE cannot control what is outside of us, other people, weather, elements that cause anger, fear, hurt...ect. But we can however control how we allow these things to affect us in our thoughts.
Fear is something that we experience more out of its unknown abilities and how they can affect us.
There are many different types of fear as there are many different types of people. The one thing that is equal is our ability to choose what we allow to control how we think!
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. (1 John 4:18)
Thank you Mel for pointing me to this verse. It really gives insight to the link between fear and love and ultimately Jesus. As I have confessed I fear some things. Some things more now and some less. I am challenged by this verse to resist fear, allow love to drive it away. It is part of the life process of being made perfect in Jesus. As we head towards that day, the day of Christ, the day of perfection, we have the hope that fear will be destroyed, and driven away by perfect love.
Great to hear from your all. Your comments are a real blessing to me.
Justin, I enjoyed the poem you wrote. It is beautiful.
I pray that God will give me the eyes to see honestly and clearly what is true and real. I pray for ears to hear what God is saying. I pray for hands that help others. Jesus has shown us how to see, hear, and help in his actions, his life, and his death. I pray that I may follow his lead as God gives me the strength.
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are, right now :).
This is such a beautiful site every time I visit it give me great peace.
Dorothy from grammology
grammology.com
Recent blog:=- Parents teach values to our kids
In my deepest fear, I am confident in God. And so I become aware that I can be hopefull, instead.
Yes all that i want is to touch the Spirit, by keeping praying and worshiping Him
Great post. I appreciate your writing.
This is great.....thank you so much for sharing! Blessings!
When we look at our "storms" fear overwhelms us, when we realize God is not in our box and have hope (confident expectation for a positive outcome) in Him, fear vanishes.
"Find rest, O my soul, In God alone; my hope comes from Him." Psalms 62:5
Thank you for sharing this enlightening post. You have a very inspirational blog!^^
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