Why are you so afraid devo

Flow:

So I live in Perry now but I haven’t always.

I spent most of my life growing up in ft myers but I was actually born in a little town called Alva

It was about 30 min on the outskirts of ft myers and it was a tiny tiny town

If you think Perry is small, then you should visit Alva. It had a post office and one gas station and was home to about 1,000 people

My parents had built a home on several acres there, and it was in the middle of nowhere, as everything was in Alva.

I wasn’t quite old enough to experience a lot of this because we moved when I was 9 or 10, but I remember stories of my older brothers having to take the trash to the end of the road.

Going to the end of the road was not like walking a few hundred feet on pavement in a well lit neighborhood.

It was a long winding gravel road. You had to walk through the woods, past a gate, around a corner until you got to the asphalt.

About halfway down the road the house was no longer in site. It was just you, the trash can, and whatever your imagination could conjure up in the moment.

Inevitably, it seemed, we always had to take the trash out at dark.

Maybe it was because we didn’t do it until the last minute, or

maybe it was because my dad didn’t want the trash can out by the road for longer than it needed to be,

but regardless it was always at night in the dark. One of my older brothers was quite scared of the dark and so to help him with that fear my dad would often choose him as tribute to complete this task.

We still to this day sit around and talk about some of these stories.

But when my brother would go out and take the trash often my dad would wait until he got out of site and then he would go out and hide in the ditch that ran along the road.

And of course on the way back he would jump out and scare my brother

Now, with all of that in mind, If you were to ask me why I was so afraid of taking the trash out I could answer that question with ease, and I think it would be pretty convincing. I would not struggle to find the countless reasons why it was so terrifying, why it caused such fear.

There’s a moment where Jesus asks his disciples a similar question

Matt 8 tells a story

Matthew 8:23–27 NIV

23 Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” 26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. 27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

So Before this moment Jesus is teaching to people and people just began to flock to Him. And so Jesus decides, “let’s go across the water.”

Which, I’m not sure I’ve ever related to Jesus anymore than in this moment

But that is what they do. He gathers his discples and they get in a boat

they go out to sea. And during this time there was already an abundant fear of large bodies of water.

They didn’t have all the tools and resources we have today so to venture out on a body of water was a dangerous task and so most people during this time had a fear of just going out on the water

The sea represented to the Jews the forces of chaos.

The psalmist says in Psalm 89:5-9

Psalm 89:5–9 NIV

5 The heavens praise your wonders, Lord, your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones. 6 For who in the skies above can compare with the Lord? Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings? 7 In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared; he is more awesome than all who surround him. 8 Who is like you, Lord God Almighty? You, Lord, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you. 9 You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, you still them.

To make matters worse a storm had come up on them. Scripture says that it wasn’t just any storm but a “furious storm” and that “the waves swept over the boat.”

This was the kind of storm that would kill all of those in it.

In the disciples eyes, they were in a fearful location with fearful conditions

And so they go grab Jesus who’s sleeping

Again, I can relate. He’s been around people all day, he’s worn out so he needed a nap

Jesus wakes up and ask the question “why are you so afraid?”

Now, why does it seem like Jesus always ask the questions with the most obvious answer?

Maybe it’s because based on the circumstances, it does seem pretty obvious but based on reality it is not

based on the circumstances the disciples had every right to be fearful

They were about to die

Based on the reality, Jesus was in the boat with them so they had nothing to fear.

So for us this morning, Why are we afraid?

In what areas of our lives have we allowed fear to creep in

playing with the girls last night

Fear cripples us

But I think a lot of times it doesn’t feel like that

A lot of times it comes in the form of just a little doubt

We begin to ask questions like, well what if?

2 Timothy 1:7 NIV

7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

Paul here was writing to his disciple and encouraging him.

Saying “God does not desire for us to be fearful, to not live in fear, in fact He gives us what we need to overcome it.”

But how do we do that? How do we overcome fear?

First off, we have to have Jesus in our boat.

If Jesus isn’t in the boat with us, than the reality is, we do have reason to fear.

But if He is, we have no reason to fear.

So it starts there. We need to confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that He is Lord.

That gives us access to the controller of chaos

We also need to tap into the power, love, and self-dicipline HE gives.

These are the weapons we have to fight against fear

Lastly, look at how the disciples responded

Matthew 8:27 NIV

27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

Look at how the psalmist talks about the God who is able

It’s all worship!

When we take our eyes off of the situation and we begin to fix them on Jesus

When we begin to worship Him and marvel at His grandness, everything else around us has a tendency to get really really small

That includes our fear

So, where is fear keeping you from succeeding in life?

Are you trying to do it on your own or is Jesus in the boat with you?

Have you asked God for the power that He can give us to overcome it?

Have you loved people through it?

1 John 4:18 NIV

18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

Do you have any self-discipline?

Maybe your fear is a healthy fear because of your lack of self-discipline

And who/what do you worship?

Because if you worship your job, or your hobbies, or yourself, fear is going to be much bigger in your life

But if you begin to worship the controller of chaos, then fear automatically begins to shrink.