Some days, no matter how much you want your faith to sustain you, fear still plants itself in your path. You try to remember that God is with you, that you’ve been doing your best to be faithful, but nothing comforts your soul.
You might feel like the disciples in the boat with Jesus, the guy they’ve been walking with and following, and learning from for quite a while, but then a storm shakes their world. They are trying to adjust their sails, trying to bail out the water that’s threatening to sink the ship, but their efforts are puny. Finally, they do what they might have considered doing first. They go to Jesus and ask for His help. He’s been with them the whole time, but in their minds, he’s been sleeping, not participating in their plight.
It’s no different for you and me. We feel the winds blow, we sense that disaster could be up ahead, and we imagine we have to somehow control the waves, the rocking feeling in our stomachs, and the sense that we are in peril. In our case, as it probably was in the biblical story, Jesus is always there, always awake to our needs and our circumstances. He knows what we need more than we do and He knows how to calm our fears.
God hasn’t forgotten us
These days, it often feels like we have no control over those issues that threaten our well-being. We can’t stop a tsunami of unrest, of senseless chaos, of overwhelming uncertainty. We can’t stop those things, but if God has taught us anything throughout history and through our personal stories, it’s to let us know He sees us. He knows how shaky things are and He hasn’t forgotten us.
If you wonder how to know this, just look at your own life story, at those times when God showed up for you in remarkable and sometimes, unexplainable ways. He provided encouragement, sustained your finances and gave you wisdom just when you needed it. He saw you through the storm of a difficult medical diagnosis, comforted you through grief and filled you with hope to start again. He was never asleep on the job.
Things can be scary. Times can feel threatening. As you face the waves of discontent and uncertainty, wake up to the presence of Jesus. He knows the circumstances you face and He will not leave you without hope and possibility. Put your shaky little hand in His and hold on!
Calmer seas are up ahead.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This first-person blog post first appeared on karenmooreauthor.com and is reprinted with permission.
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