The Fourth Sunday 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
“On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” ”
“FEAR NOT” - Introduction to this week’s Focus
You might have heard the famous saying:
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself… and bears.”
Truth is, there are a lot of things to fear these days. Even bears. And as we’ve shared the past few weeks, we are all in some way or the other fearing a loss of significant events and experiences, fearing the loss of economic security, and fearing the loss of community and relationships. Each of these on its own is difficult, but together they can easily leave us feeling that we’ve lost control, that nothing is certain anymore, that the storms of life are going to swamp us and we’ll soon be in over our heads with nothing to hold on to.
The dominant culture tells us that the opposite of fear is courage – more specifically a form of courage that is grounded in a belief in our own power, our own strength, our own ability to pull ourselves out of the turbulent threatening waters. But in the face of an unseen and undetected threat, none of us have the power or strength to survive on our own. And it might feel like nobody at all cares that we are perishing.
The way of faith, however, tells us that the opposite of fear is trust – a trust grounded not in our own individual abilities, but in our relationship with God through Christ by the Holy Spirit. And even though it seems as if God cannot be awakened, God is still present. Even when hope seems lost, God is with us. Even when the worst threatens, God will still the storm.
STEP THREE: PRAY
God our protector, we are battered by wave upon wave of threats and fears - from deadly viruses to economic hardship to the loss of work, community, and even life. We are overwhelmed. Still the turbulent waters, calm our anxious souls, give us the hope and trust to carry on. Amen.
Today’s devotion is by Pastor Scott Simmons
©2020 Scott Simmons. Permission granted to share with family and friends.