"LETTING GO OF FEAR"

Good Evening to All!

And another of his disciples said unto Him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
(22) But Jesus said unto him, Follow Me; and let the dead bury their dead.
(23) And when He was entered into a ship, His disciples followed him.
(24) And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but He was asleep.
(25) And His disciples came to Him, and awoke Him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.
(26) And He said unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then He arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.
(27) But the men marvelled, saying, "What manner of man is this, that even the winds
and the sea obey Him?" Matthew 8:21-27

Before I get into the "commentary" of this passage, I have a question or two. Have you ever noticed that it is possible to "think things into being"? I have literally worried about something so much that it happened. I have also worried myself into being sick. The Bible tells us to have a positive attitude and think on positive things. God must have had a reason for telling us to do that.

Have you ever known people who worried and worried about something, and then when it happened they blamed God? It seems to me if we would pray about our situation, and abide by what God tells us and let Him handle it, There would be nothing to "blame Him for". Not that it would be His fault anyway, as God does not cause bad things to happen. We need to reach up to God and let Him take us by the hand and help us through our problems and circumstances, just as parent would help their child.

Now, with that said, on with my passage commentary.

Many of us "have good intentions." We want to do right. We want to have a serious relationship with God, but that would require actually doing something. That would actually require us to be committed to something, so we shy away from it.

I used to be that same way. I walked around and when asked, I would "say" I am a Christian. I didn't read my Bible, I didn't go to church, I knew about God from when I was a little girl in Sunday school, but I never "had a relationship with Him". When I got older, I quit going to church because I always had "something more important to do". In other words, I talked the talk, but didn't walk the walk. I knew what I needed to do, but I kept making excuses, because I worked 2-10 shift and I didn't want to get up early to go to church. Yes, that was my "reason". I worked on Sundays even if I could have gotten out of church at noon and still had time to go home change clothes, eat lunch and still had time to spare before time for work, I used work as an excuse. Bible reading-- I used to say I didn't like to read the Bible because I didn't understand it. Come on now, I know I'm not the only one who has used that excuse. Even when I was a little girl they gave us the "Revised Standard Version" as a promotion gift in Sunday School, and I could understand that when I was 8 years old, and that was 51 years ago, so that excuse shouldn't fly either. Back in 2000, I quit making excuses, (pretty much). I still catch myself every now and then but try to correct it.

We are in the latter days. Christ's return is drawing closer and closer. Now is not the time to be making excuses. We need to be more serious than ever about our relationship with God. I definitely don't want to be one of the ones who says "Lord! Lord! and to whom Christ says, "depart from me for I never knew you".
We can make excuses, or we can be faithful. Just because we go to church, or even get "saved", does not mean that we will never react with either fear or worry. We are human and will continue to have human responses to whatever our circumstances are. We will get scared or nervous when things happen beyond our control. There are just times when we respond out of reflex. Whenever I hear strange noises at night and my hubby isn't home, I pull the covers up over my head. Now what good that will do, I have no idea, but it makes me feel better.

Now according to the book I'm reading, the Sea of Galilee is thirteen miles long, seven miles wide, and 150 feet deep. Storms can come up very quickly. Twenty-foot waves crashing against a boat can cause even experienced sailors to panic.

Jesus used this specific storm referred to in this passage to show his disciples his miraculous power.

This passage got to me. I got to thinking. The disciples had been with Jesus a while. They had followed Him, watched Him heal the sick, make the blind see, and make the lame to walk. All of this, yet they marvelled when Jesus calmed the winds and the sea.

Our fears are opportunities to trust God and see his power at work, just as the trials and tribulations that we go through are opportunities to build our faith in God. To show Him that we Know He is capable of helping us. These are opportunities to let God take control of our situations and guide our lives for the better. When we depend on Him for all things our lives are so much richer and more fulfilled.

I don't think there is a worse feeling than being afraid, and feeling alone at the same time. If we will remember first, that we are NEVER ALONE, and that God can help us through anything and everything, we will lead much more confident and happy lives.

Instead of being fearful of what can go wrong, we must be positive and trust in God to keep things right.

Good night to All and May God bless!