Peace - the Answer to Fear

 

“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.” (John 14:25-31 ESV).

 

The time passes so quickly that it is often difficult to imagine. That is especially true of difficult “good-byes.” In 2015 we said goodbye to friends and a dearly loved community in Tennessee, we left with tears in our eyes. The picture I’ve attached was taken in front of our church on Easter Sunday. Our friends in Santa Fe, Tennessee, are still dearly beloved, but it is not the same living so far away geographically. Transitions can be difficult. They leave us with unsettled feelings and uncertainty about the road ahead. They leave us with troubled hearts and almost anything but peace.

 

As Jesus prepared his disciples for his departure, he promised that they would receive the Holy Spirit and that he would come back one day. He had prepared them well for what was next. But I think he knew that this transition would still be very difficult for them. He knew they would have a lot of fear about what the future had in store. So, he gave them this message of peace—saying that he would give them his peace.

 

Transitions are just one thing that can bring about fear in our lives. Fear of what lies ahead and fear of the unknown can be very strong. But all our fears can be overcome by the Lord’s peace, which he gives us each day.

 

When your life is filled with lots of changes and unknowns, turn to the peace that Jesus has promised. The peace that he has given can bring us through times of trouble and fear.

 

The Blob

 

And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?” (Matthew 8:23-27 ESV).

 

Today we return to a passage that speaks to our fears and anxieties that we have recently explored. Look at the first question Jesus asks of the disciples: Why are you afraid, O you of little faith? That is a question that often defies logic. In 1958 (I know… a long time ago) Steve McQueen starred in a thriller. Being a nine-year boy, that movie held a certain mystique that required me to view. The storyline centered around a mysterious creature from another planet, resembling a giant blob of jelly. It lands on earth and begins to swallow people alive. The people of a nearby small-town refuse to listen to some teenagers who have witnessed the blob's destructive power. In the meantime, the blob just keeps on getting bigger and more dangerous. After watching that film I refused to sleep near the edge of my twin bed for fear that the blob would somehow creep up my bed and get me like it did in the movie. Yes, irrational… I know. However, I still think about that scene six decades ago.

 

Before we are too hard on the disciples, they had every right to be afraid of the storm that came upon their boat. The waves were sweeping right in! It is hard to fault them for fearing for their lives. But when they woke up Jesus, he asked why they didn’t have any faith. It’s easy for us to read this and think, “Of course their boat wasn’t going to sink; Jesus was on it!” But when you are in the middle of a frightening situation, rational thinking is one of the first things to go—not to mention faith.

 

A lack of faith and the onset of fear are often paired in the Bible. It may seem unfair at times to blame our fear on a lack of faith. But when it comes down to it, our faith in God and his promises are enough to overcome all fears. God doesn’t promise that we won’t ever be in frightening situations. But he does ask us to trust him all the time. Even if the situation we are in goes terribly wrong, we are still children of God. Our destiny is assured; and, we are in his hands. Believe it!

 

Fear of the Future

 

[Jesus said] “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 6:25-30 ESV).

 

Of all the fears in life it is easiest to fear the unknown of the future. It may be we fear that we will not have enough resources to sustain us. It may be a fear of the natural process of aging and all the health challenges that typically accompany another birthday. It may be our inability to navigate the challenges to the constant march of technology in our lives. There are dozens of others we might name that produce anxiety in our lives. Unfortunately, all these fears rob us of the present and the joy God desires for us. The meme today is correct: Never let your fear decide your future.

 

In our reading today, Jesus points to the birds, which don’t sow or reap or store away. God cares for them every day. Jesus points to the flowers, which don’t labor or spin. They are clothed in splendor one day and are gone the next. If God cares for some of these simpler parts of his creation, won’t he care for our needs as well?

 

It’s magnificent to hear about God caring for us. Amid fear and worry this is exactly what we need. But then even if we hear this one day and realize how much God cares for us, we can fall back into the same worry again the next day. It seems to be wrapped into our DNA to worry about what we will eat and drink and wear and so on. I’m not sure we will ever stop worrying about the future. Fortunately, though, God’s assurance is present just as often as our fears are. A day will likely come soon when you will worry about what’s next. When that happens, remember that our Father in heaven cares for us more than we can even imagine.