What is your response to the greatest problem that you face? As people we all have different emotional responses to the various situations that come our way in life. Some of us may respond in anger, some in tears and sometimes we may even runaway or withdraw completely. How can we find the stable calm peace throughout all of life’s situations? Let’s start by examining a core root of our emotions.
We are created by God as people with emotions. Some of us my try to suppress them while others may always seem to be filled with emotional extremes. As we look into the Bible we see Jesus, in Matthew 22:37, state that we are to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” The word heart refers to thoughts or feelings. So, loving God with all our heart soul and mind means that we are to love God with our total being.
However, the aspect of our heart thoughts or feelings is the most easily distracted and turned away from loving God. Something difficult happens in life and our response is, “God must not love me.” That is an emotional response. All too often the underlying foundation to our emotional response is fear. We fear the future because of some major change in our life so we become angry, we cry or we try to escape. We all respond those ways, but how often do we examine the source of the emotional response? Fear has a way of moving us into action or causing us to freeze in place. If God has designed our emotions, then how can we love Him with our emotions? How does Jesus address this emotional response of the disciples?
Jesus response to His followers is simply, do not fear. He repeats that phrase often to His disciples. His desire is for them to love Him by trusting Him alone above their fear.
Immobilizing Fear
Matthew 8:26 records that Jesus was sleeping in the boat and was awakened by the disciples because they feared for their lives. Jesus rebukes them for being timid or faithless. This type of fear immobilized the disciples from acting out of faith.
Terrifying Fear
Next we see fear as being frightened or extremely alarmed. In Matthew 10:26-31 Jesus is giving instructions and encouragement to the 12 disciples before they go out on a short ministry assignment. Jesus tells the disciples not to be afraid and comments on their value. In Matthew 14:27-30 Jesus and Peter walk on the water. Peter cries out in fear asking to be saved immediately after Jesus had told everyone not to be afraid (27). Then when Jesus was transfigured the disciples fell face down on the ground terrified, but Jesus told them to get up and not be terrified (Matthew 17:6-7). Finally, after His death the women went to the tomb where Jesus was buried (Matthew 28:1-10). They experienced an earthquake, saw an angel and fearful guards. Things were not normal, but the angel and then Jesus told the women not to be afraid.
Calming Fear
Jesus consistent response to the fears of the disciples was, “Do not be afraid.” He calmed their fears by reminding them that they did not need to be afraid. In each instance Jesus reminded the disciples of their value, His presence, His power, and His desire to be with them. That is comforting and empowering when facing new or unknown circumstances.
Are you facing terrifying or immobilizing fears in your life? God reminds us, just as He did the disciples, that we do not need to be afraid. Why? Because He desires to be with us and display His power to us as He strengthens our faith to face our fears. God’s desire is that our faith in Him be greater than that which makes us emotionally respond in fear. May God give us the faith to see His greatness and not the problems in life that cause us to fear.
We are created by God as people with emotions. Some of us my try to suppress them while others may always seem to be filled with emotional extremes. As we look into the Bible we see Jesus, in Matthew 22:37, state that we are to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” The word heart refers to thoughts or feelings. So, loving God with all our heart soul and mind means that we are to love God with our total being.
However, the aspect of our heart thoughts or feelings is the most easily distracted and turned away from loving God. Something difficult happens in life and our response is, “God must not love me.” That is an emotional response. All too often the underlying foundation to our emotional response is fear. We fear the future because of some major change in our life so we become angry, we cry or we try to escape. We all respond those ways, but how often do we examine the source of the emotional response? Fear has a way of moving us into action or causing us to freeze in place. If God has designed our emotions, then how can we love Him with our emotions? How does Jesus address this emotional response of the disciples?
Jesus response to His followers is simply, do not fear. He repeats that phrase often to His disciples. His desire is for them to love Him by trusting Him alone above their fear.
Immobilizing Fear
Matthew 8:26 records that Jesus was sleeping in the boat and was awakened by the disciples because they feared for their lives. Jesus rebukes them for being timid or faithless. This type of fear immobilized the disciples from acting out of faith.
Terrifying Fear
Next we see fear as being frightened or extremely alarmed. In Matthew 10:26-31 Jesus is giving instructions and encouragement to the 12 disciples before they go out on a short ministry assignment. Jesus tells the disciples not to be afraid and comments on their value. In Matthew 14:27-30 Jesus and Peter walk on the water. Peter cries out in fear asking to be saved immediately after Jesus had told everyone not to be afraid (27). Then when Jesus was transfigured the disciples fell face down on the ground terrified, but Jesus told them to get up and not be terrified (Matthew 17:6-7). Finally, after His death the women went to the tomb where Jesus was buried (Matthew 28:1-10). They experienced an earthquake, saw an angel and fearful guards. Things were not normal, but the angel and then Jesus told the women not to be afraid.
Calming Fear
Jesus consistent response to the fears of the disciples was, “Do not be afraid.” He calmed their fears by reminding them that they did not need to be afraid. In each instance Jesus reminded the disciples of their value, His presence, His power, and His desire to be with them. That is comforting and empowering when facing new or unknown circumstances.
Are you facing terrifying or immobilizing fears in your life? God reminds us, just as He did the disciples, that we do not need to be afraid. Why? Because He desires to be with us and display His power to us as He strengthens our faith to face our fears. God’s desire is that our faith in Him be greater than that which makes us emotionally respond in fear. May God give us the faith to see His greatness and not the problems in life that cause us to fear.
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