"Faith and Fear?" (Part 1)

In the book Hell’s Best Kept Secret, by Ray Comfort, there is a true but tragic story. It seems a woman was once walking along a riverbank with her child. Suddenly the child slipped into the river. The mother screamed in terror. She couldn’t swim, and besides, she was in the latter stages of pregnancy. Finally, somebody heard her screaming and rushed down to the riverbank. The utter tragedy was when they stepped into those murky waters to retrieve that now dead child, they found that the water was only waist deep! That mother could have easily saved her child but didn’t because of a lack of knowledge. In today’s Scripture we will see the same kind of reaction from fear and Jesus’ encouragement to face life with victory.

One day Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's cross over to the other side of the lake." So they got into a boat and started out. On the way across, Jesus lay down for a nap, and while he was sleeping the wind began to rise. A fierce storm developed that threatened to swamp them, and they were in real danger. The disciples woke him up, shouting, "Master, Master, we're going to drown!" So Jesus rebuked the wind and the raging waves. The storm stopped and all was calm! Then he asked them, "Where is your faith?" And they were filled with awe and amazement. They said to one another, "Who is this man, that even the winds and waves obey him?" So they arrived in the land of the Gerasenes, across the lake from Galilee. (Luke 8:22-39 NLV).

There are at least two important principles of truth to be gained from this passage. First, the disciples did not deny the reality of the danger they faced. Luke said it was a “fierce storm” and “they were in real danger.” It is important to recognize that mere whistling in the dark will not keep us safe from harm. Satan’s efforts to harm us are very real, however, so is the promise of God. There are so many times in the Bible when our Lord has promised to be with us that we hardly may number them!

And, that brings us to the second principle: the disciples did not recognize the power of Jesus. They had no faith in either who He was or what He could do. They were in real danger, but they were not going to drown! It is the knowledge of who He is and what He can do that is the basis of our faith response to the attacks of Satan designed to rob us of our joy in life. We’ll see that vividly illustrated tomorrow as we continue this passage in Luke. Jesus’ casting out the demons from the man in Gerasenes is such a clear example of who He is and what He can do. Today, however, rest in the knowledge that He can calm the storms in your life.

A preacher once said, “A wise bird knows that a scarecrow is simply an advertisement. It announces that some very juicy and delicious fruit is to be had for the picking. There are scarecrows in all the best gardens. If I am wise, I too shall treat the scarecrow as though it were an invitation. Every giant in the way which makes me feel like a grasshopper is only a scarecrow beckoning me to God’s richest blessings.” He concluded, “Faith is a bird which loves to perch on scarecrows.” Come with me the garden of God’s rich blessings! Whatever you are facing today, as real as it may be, deliver your future into the hands of the One who can speak and “even the wind and the waves obey”!