Fear No Fear

“He replied, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He rose and rebuked the winds and the sea. And there was a great calm” (Matthew 8:26. MEV). Jesus loves us enough to help us learn to trust Him. Just before this, Jesus had healed the Centurion’s servant with a word – He didn’t even go to do it in person. Jesus had also healed Peter’s mother’s fever. Right after that healing, a whole crowd of people had brought their sick and possessed people to Jesus and He had healed everyone who had come. None of this was ‘possible’. None of it was something any man (Jesus included) could do on their own power and strength. All of it was the Father in Heaven working through Jesus. Jesus had demonstrated this many times at this point. He had ministered to great crowds. He had taught them the heart intent of the scriptures. He’d taught them that God could do anything and that they needed to lean into the Lord if they wanted to see anything happen. Yet when a physical storm rose up, they were unable to make the connection and call on the Lord to do something about it. It wasn’t just any storm. It was a storm that was preventing them from doing something God had commanded them to do (go to the other side of the lake). It was a storm that was endangering their lives when clearly the Lord was calling them to do more work. It was a storm that was coming against their calling. They didn’t seek God. They didn’t try and do anything. They failed to see what was possible with God and panicked. Jesus, however, didn’t get mad. He didn’t lecture them. He stated a fact: why didn’t they trust in God? How little trust had they developed at that point? They had been amazed about things Jesus did. They had been amazed at teaching Jesus had given. They were mentally impressed with it all. But none of it had worked into their hearts. None of it had changed their thinking. Jesus loved them. Jesus demonstrated to them what was possible when they trusted in God. Jesus showed them that nothing could stand against God. Jesus loved them enough to walk them through it. He loves US enough to walk us through it. To help us. To encourage us. To help us get to the place where we believe AND trust in Him. Earth-shaking things might happen. Storms and earthquakes. Fires and wars. But if we trust in Jesus, if we trust in God, and if we are prepared to do what God says, when God says it, and how God says it, then there is NOTHING that can stand in our way. We WILL be secure. We WILL be taken care of. And we WILL be able to do what God is calling us to do. We don’t need a VOLUME of trust, we need an INTENSITY of trust. Even a small amount, when it is heartfelt, is enough to physically move a physical mountain – if that is what God is telling us to do. NOTHING is impossible for Him. We only need to believe that and trust that His instructions are THE instructions and NOTHING will stand in HIS way.