DAILY READING
REFLECTION
Fear
By Todd Marti
This week’s readings have discussed the overriding importance of staying close to God. We’ve seen how vital it is to not let fear, preoccupation with worldly things, and even otherwise legitimate things get between us and what God desires of us. Today’s reading gives additional insights into one of those potentially distracting things—fear—and illustrates several encouraging things about it.
One is that even godly, faithful, folks experience fear and that it does not disqualify them from relationship with God. Here we see that the disciples—people who literally dedicated their lives to following Jesus—experienced great fear. We see that elsewhere in the gospels, during other storms and in connection with Jesus' passion. But Jesus did not give up on them; He still loved and used them. So do not despair when you experience fear; fear does not equal failure and doubt does not equal disqualification.
Another thing this reading shows us is to bring our fears to God; prayer is a powerful response to fear. Here, the disciples brought their fears to Jesus, prayer in its most direct form, and received peace. That is consistent with what we see in Philippians 4:6-7 and 1 Peter 5:7; those verses tell us that we receive peace when we bring our fears to God. So go to God when you are scared, you will experience peace from the very process of sharing your fear with Him. The fear causing circumstances may not be immediately changed, but your ability to deal with them will be.
Finally, this reading shows that we do not have to be shy about bringing our fears to God; we can express our fear without inhibition. The Greek word translated in a very understated way as “said” in verse 38 actually connotes a much stronger communication. It describes commanding, exhorting and speaking emphatically. Jesus didn’t reject the disciples or their plea because of that. In fact, he later instructed them to be bold in presenting their concerns to God. Luke 11:5-8, Luke 18:1-8. We see that elsewhere in scripture, God’s faithful servants presented raw emotion to Him and did so with great intensity, but God was not offended. 1 Samuel 1:4-28, Psalm 55:1-8, Psalm 42:2-4. Relatedly, Romans 8:26-27 assures us that we can bring our raw emotions to God even if we are so upset that we cannot clearly articulate them. So do not pull your punches with God, pour your heart out to Him.
PRAYER
Lord, draw us to you when we are afraid. Do not let our fear separate us from you, but help us boldly cast our cares on you. Amen.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
TODD MARTI
I have been connected to UALC since 2000 in various small groups and as a co-manager of the UALC Community Garden. I’m married to Kelly Marti, and the proud father of Sarah Marti. I am happy to be writing these devotions.
Will to send to my granddaughter. Fits perfectly.
Thanks Todd. I appreciate the reminder "that even godly, faithful, folks experience fear and that it does not disqualify them from relationship with God."
I find that fear is a regular companion some days. I love how you encouraged us to deal with this: "Prayer is a powerful response to fear". Thank you Todd.