I have been continuing my discussion with the Lord about who He is and how He wants me to see Him and He brings up a recurring question, “Why are you afraid?” Back in the boat with the shaking disciples after He calmed the blistering storm Christ asks them, “Why ARE you afraid?”
The waves are now calm, the wind gone, the water quietly lapping the side of the boat yet the disciples are in the boat and as Mark puts it “very much afraid” so I asked, why were they still afraid? Why didn’t they respond with a “Yeah Jesus, you’re awesome! That “be still” thing was just WOW!” No instead they cowered in the boat asking “who is this guy?” Now I will be the first to say I don’t know the minds of the disciples but maybe the conversation went kinda like this. “Did you know He could command the seas?” Judas asked finally breaking the deafening silence. With wide eyed blank stares the other disciples looked at each other and shook their heads. Then one by one they began hanging their heads looking at
their toes. Then Peter mumbled, “Do you think that He commanded the storm that sank Frank’s boat and killed his crew last week because you know Frank getting drunk every night?” “Don’t know,” said Philip, “but I’m not gonna ask Him after He wasn’t happy and pointed it out we didn’t understand His story about the sower and the seed.” “If He can do that like it was nothing,” asked Thaddeus, “what else can He do?” “Well we’ve seen Him heal people of all kinds of stuff,” replied Bartholomew. “We’ve also seen Him ticked off at the Pharisees,” retorted Matthew. “What can He do to us?” whispered James finally asking the question that was on all their minds. “I mean, look at what God did to Pharaoh through Moses and this guy is doing the same kind of stuff and on a whim too.” With their heads back down looking at their feet not daring to glance at Him silence again reigned in the boat. But then John looked up and held his gaze on Jesus looking out across the sea. “But would He do something like that?” he finally asked. They all looked up at Andrew as he was fixed on Jesus. Then they all began to look at Him when He suddenly turned to them with a gentle smile on His face. “Why are you still afraid?” He asks. Okay, I am sure that is not how it went but it points out an issue. If I know that Christ has my best interest in mind, why would I be afraid of what He has in store for me? Maybe it would be because what I think is my best interest isn’t what He thinks is my best interest and I know that but I still want what I want. All that my fear would prove is that I am not concerned about having His will lived out in my life but rather I’m concerned only for my own selfish gains.
The waves are now calm, the wind gone, the water quietly lapping the side of the boat yet the disciples are in the boat and as Mark puts it “very much afraid” so I asked, why were they still afraid? Why didn’t they respond with a “Yeah Jesus, you’re awesome! That “be still” thing was just WOW!” No instead they cowered in the boat asking “who is this guy?” Now I will be the first to say I don’t know the minds of the disciples but maybe the conversation went kinda like this. “Did you know He could command the seas?” Judas asked finally breaking the deafening silence. With wide eyed blank stares the other disciples looked at each other and shook their heads. Then one by one they began hanging their heads looking at
their toes. Then Peter mumbled, “Do you think that He commanded the storm that sank Frank’s boat and killed his crew last week because you know Frank getting drunk every night?” “Don’t know,” said Philip, “but I’m not gonna ask Him after He wasn’t happy and pointed it out we didn’t understand His story about the sower and the seed.” “If He can do that like it was nothing,” asked Thaddeus, “what else can He do?” “Well we’ve seen Him heal people of all kinds of stuff,” replied Bartholomew. “We’ve also seen Him ticked off at the Pharisees,” retorted Matthew. “What can He do to us?” whispered James finally asking the question that was on all their minds. “I mean, look at what God did to Pharaoh through Moses and this guy is doing the same kind of stuff and on a whim too.” With their heads back down looking at their feet not daring to glance at Him silence again reigned in the boat. But then John looked up and held his gaze on Jesus looking out across the sea. “But would He do something like that?” he finally asked. They all looked up at Andrew as he was fixed on Jesus. Then they all began to look at Him when He suddenly turned to them with a gentle smile on His face. “Why are you still afraid?” He asks. Okay, I am sure that is not how it went but it points out an issue. If I know that Christ has my best interest in mind, why would I be afraid of what He has in store for me? Maybe it would be because what I think is my best interest isn’t what He thinks is my best interest and I know that but I still want what I want. All that my fear would prove is that I am not concerned about having His will lived out in my life but rather I’m concerned only for my own selfish gains.
No comments:
Post a Comment