Digging Deeper: If You’re Right Here, Why Am I Afraid?

This question Jesus asks the disciples makes me stop and examine my own heart.

“Where is your faith?”

I can almost imagine the scene. The waves are crashing against the boat. The wind is fierce. Water is filling in, and the disciples are terrified. They shake Jesus to wake Him, crying out for help because they believe they are about to die. And where is Jesus? Right there. In the boat with them.

He is not watching from the shore. He is not somewhere far away, unaware of their trouble. He is close enough for them to reach Him, close enough to hear their cries, close enough to stand and rebuke the wind and the raging water. He literally could not have been any closer, and still, they were afraid.

If I’m honest, I might have been afraid, too. It’s easy to read this story from the safety of our own homes, knowing how it ends. We know Jesus will calm the storm. We know the disciples will survive. But they didn’t have the benefit of reading the final verses while the water was rising around them. They were experiencing the danger in real time, and isn’t that how life often feels?

When we are in the middle of a difficult situation, we feel the pressure of the moment, and fear can become louder than everything we know about God.

I sometimes wonder how many times I’ve done the same thing as those disciples. I’ve known God’s promises. I’ve experienced His goodness. I’ve watched Him make a way before. Yet, when a new challenge appears, I sometimes start to worry like He has never helped me before.

Sometimes we believe in God and still feel anxious. Sometimes we pray and still cry. Sometimes we know that God is able, but we struggle to understand what He is doing.

The presence of fear does not automatically mean the absence of faith. What matters is where we turn when fear comes.

The disciples turned toward Jesus. They woke Him and called for help. Even in their panic, they brought their fear to Him. That gives me hope.

I don’t have to pretend that the storm isn’t frightening. I don’t have to silence every anxious thought. I can bring Jesus the trembling, uncertain, overwhelmed version of myself and ask Him to help me remember who He is.

Faith is not pretending the waves aren’t high. Faith is remembering that the waves are not greater than the One who is riding them out with you.

Prayer

Lord, sometimes we don’t understand ourselves. We know who You are. We know the ways You have provided, protected, strengthened, and comforted us. We can look back over our lives and see evidence of Your goodness. Yet, when another storm comes, we can find ourselves worrying as if we have forgotten everything You have ever done.

Forgive us for the moments when our fear becomes bigger in our minds than Your faithfulness. Help us remember that You are near, even when we can’t see how things will work out.