The Fourth Week of Easter: From FEAR to TRUST

STEP ONE: BREATHE

Take a deep, cleansing breath. Allow the air to fill your lungs and expand your body. Exhale and empty yourself into the room. Repeat three times - once for the one who Created you, once for the Incarnate One who walks beside you, and once for the Spirit whose life fills your being.

STEP TWO: DWELL IN WORD

“[Jesus] said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”

”

— Mark 4: 40

“FEAR NOT” - Imagine Trust

I have always felt great compassion for the disciples in this moment. The disciples were taking Jesus across the sea, letting him rest for a bit from the demands of being the Savior of the World with a nap in the stern of the boat, when a great storm overtakes them. Several of these men were fishermen – no strangers to the water – so when they begin to worry that the boat would be swamped and they would all die, it’s probably a likely scenario. They decide it’s best to wake Jesus.

Turns out that Jesus wakes up a bit cranky, and basically stands up and says to the wind and the water, “Knock it off.” And they do. Then, cranky Jesus turns to his disciples and demands, “Why are you afraid? Have you STILL no faith?”

Why were they afraid? They are human – mortal – able to die, and threatened with a situation that could easily take their lives from them. They are afraid because the water was swamping their boat and they thought it was going to go down. If the boat didn’t stand a chance against the wind and waves of that storm, what chance would some shipwrecked sailors have?

Perhaps you knew this fear before the Coronavirus became a part of our world. Perhaps you have looked death in the face – through a serious accident, a cancer diagnosis, a heart attack, or some other serious illness. Maybe you already knew what it was to be afraid your ship was going down. But, with this new pandemic that has swept across our country and our world, we all know on a more collective level the fear that the ship might go down. It is one thing to look my own death in the face – one terrifying thing. But, it is another thing entirely to look at the potential collapse of certain sectors of our society. What happens if the meat packing industry closes down? What if the schools don’t open in the fall? What if life as we knew it is just not available to us when we are finally past this pandemic?

It is terrifying to think that this virus might take our life, or the lives of those we love. It is terrifying to think that the virus has already taken the lives of over 58,000 people. It is also terrifying to think that when this is all over, we might be left needing to completely rebuild some of the bedrock institutions of our society. Maybe it’s time that we, like the disciples before us, consider waking Jesus up. Maybe we need to shake our savior awake and get him moving.

“Do you not care that we are perishing?”

It is this fear induced, panic infused question that makes Jesus question the disciples faith. It’s not that they woke him, it’s not that they asked for his help, it’s that they wondered if he cared about them. You see, faith is not the absence of fear. There are very real reasons to feel fear in this world. Fear is a part of the basic biology of our bodies – it’s not something that we can be rid of. But, the disciples had let their fear overwhelm their knowledge of the love that God has for them. Faith is not the absence of fear, it’s the assurance that in the face of very real fear God will always be with us, for us, on our side and ready to face fear with us. God has promised that, come what may, God will always care what’s going on in our lives. God commands that we come to God in prayer with all our needs, all our concerns, all our worries. Yes, I can assure you that God very much does care about whatever you are facing this day.

There is one last thing I want to share with you before we close today. Jesus did question the disciples’ faith – but not until after he had acted on their behalf. The disciples came to Jesus, and he acted to save them. The disciples’ lack of faith did not change Jesus’s action – Jesus saved them not because of their faith but because of his love. Maybe the situation in our world has made you question whether God is truly out there, or truly cares about humanity after all. If this is where you find yourself today, know that God will still act in love toward you. God will still be there with and for you as you struggle. God will never leave you, nor forsake you.

STEP THREE: PRAY

God of the wind and waves, we see our world shaking in ways that we never dreamed possible. Be with us as we face this storm. Reveal your presence to us as we live through whatever this day has in store. And remind us that you will be by our side when we have come through this storm to whatever is on the other side. Amen

Today’s devotion is by Pastor Amanda Applehans.