A windstorm arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him up, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!" And he said to them, "Why are you afraid, you of little faith?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a dead calm. They were amazed, saying, "What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?"  (Matthew 8:24-27)
 
Did you know that the word "afraid," at least in English, appears in various forms over one thousand times in the Bible?  Either in the form of insecure anger, downright fear of self-injury or loss, or the awestruck experience of God, human fear, if distributed evenly, could appear on almost every other page of the Bible.  In fact, one of the repeated instructions to the disciples from Jesus is the antithesis of this expressed human experience, "Do not be afraid." 
 
I read part of the Abilene Reporter News this week (Tuesday) and was caught by the main headline "Do You Believe?" on the front page.  To my great surprise, the article discussed conspiracy theories...those interesting ideas which come together to explain the unexplainable, often during crises.  The article discussed "the nature of the human mind to bring order out of disorder."
 
Yet, the article never touched on the reason for conspiracy theory, or the necessity for human beings to create order.  After fighting my own demons leading me toward the tendency to control my surroundings and learning to "give it to God" in as many areas as possible, I have to say that this absence in the article made me chuckle.  I believe, deep down, that fear drives this need to explain, to form rational, provable scenarios which take the mystery out of our lives.  After all, without some explanation our world becomes chaotic.
 
I'm drawn, however, to lessons we have already learned, time and time again, about our response when life seems to become lost in chaos.  Jesus himself had something to say on the subject and even got a little put out at the disciples when their fear of chaos got the better of them.  Do you remember the storm that almost overtook their boat?  Here they were with perhaps the best life-jacket EVER, riding the most awesome waves EVER and they were terrified!  They went to Jesus and said, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!"  (Never mind that he was sleeping through the storm.)  The only state in which the disciples were comfortable was easy seas.  Yet, the state in which Jesus called them to be in was certainly less than easy and therefore not necessarily comfortable.
 
Storms in life come in all shapes and sizes.  Many times, we're given the gifts to effect change in situations and bring about the will of God; making right relationships and renewing faith.  Even so, we rarely get to rid ourselves completely of the unexplainable and chaotic.  If we take too seriously our fear, however, we set things SO rigidly around us that we control ourselves right out of relationship with one another and with God.  In our fear of chaos and our avoidance of discomfort, we remove from our lives opportunities for growth.
 
If Jesus was willing to calm a whole sea down for the sake of comforting his disciples, how much more willing will he be to offer our hearts a little calm when the sea of our lives becomes a little rough!  Keeping faith does not promise only comfortable days ahead.  It does promise that, in light of the mysterious, Jesus will be at our side, eyebrows raised, and questioning right along with us.

Blessings,
Melanie

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