Sound Familiar?

 "Immediately, Abimelech called for Isaac and exclaimed, 'She is obviously your wife! Why did you say that she was your sister?!' 'Because I was afraid someone would kill me to get her from me,' Isaac replied." Genesis 26:1-9


"The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, 'Lord, save us! We're going to drown! Jesus responded, 'Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!' Then he got up and rebuked the wind and the waves and suddenly there was a great calm." Matthew 8:23-27

 

There she stood halfway on the platform and halfway on the snowboard that had been mounted to the high ropes course cabling. All that was left was for her to do was to shift her weight forward and put her other foot on the board and off she would go to the next platform. "You can do it sweetheart!", I encouraged. And then, just as I thought my phone battery was about to run out, off she stepped. Fear was whipped and I thought, "What a cool 50 something year old wife to do stuff like this with me."


In our stories for today, we find individuals facing potential as well as real danger. Although separated by 1000's of years, the issue in view was the same -- fear. Isaac was armed with the promises of God spoken to him directly. "You will become a great nation," God told him. Yet, he lied out of fear. The disciples were armed with the very presence of God the Son. Yet, in the waves, they shouted to him out of fear. Both were rebuked even though they both were protected.


Fear. Faith. Fear. Faith. We seem to bounce back and forth like a ping pong ball, don't we? Who or what are you tempted to be afraid of today? Fearlessness is not to be confused with foolishness. Assuming upon God is never celebrated or encouraged in the Bible.  In Christ, we are armed with his word and his Spirit within us. We pray for and then act in accordance to the wisdom he gives us from a place of confidence in his love, his character, and his promises. O that David's heart would be seen in ours, "The Lord is my light and my salvation -- whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life -- of whom shall I be afraid?"

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