Most of us have certain fears in life that range from the minor fears of darkness, rats or dirt, to the paralyzing fears of separation, illness or death, among others. A lot of times, these fears come part and parcel with life experiences.
We, as people of faith trusting in God, are supposed to “fearless folk”. But, in reality, we know we are all still struggling to be “fearless” as we go about our daily lives. This is similar to the experiences of the disciples.
If we read the episode of how Jesus calmed the storm in the account of Matthew, we can see how the disciples, despite having accompanied Jesus and having witnessed His numerous miracles, healings, and teachings, went back to their normal “humanness” with their thought processes and fears when they were crossing the sea with Jesus. When the storm broke out, it must have been a terrifying storm. Otherwise the disciples, who were mainly fishermen, wouldn’t have been so frightened as they would have surely encountered numerous storms at sea before in their lives as fishermen.
This fierce storm caused great fear in the disciples. Just imagine -- they had witnessed how Jesus had cast out demons, healed the sick, performed miracles -- and yet, they were still cowed with fear despite Jesus being right there in the same boat.
Then, Jesus calmed the sea. His disciples were stunned by the miracle. Although they personally knew who Jesus was, yet, they were very impressed by His power that could even control nature.
Can we identify ourselves with the disciples in this gospel passage? Though most of us hardly experience storms while tossed in a boat of angry waters, the storms of life hit us in many ways and stages. For some, their storms may be facing a financial crisis, for others, problems in their marriage, career, family relationships, sickness, injustice in the work-place, the struggle to support their children’s education ... the list can go on and on! All these difficulties in life can be considered storms in our life.
The question is whether we allow our faith as Christians to be tested as the disciples did. Do we also forget all the wonders and blessings God has showered upon us and only feel that “we are being let down” as the disciples did? Do we allow the trials of life to overwhelm us until they become the great storm that will cause great fear within us?
The faith of the disciples was being tested as part of their discipleship and sanctification. We too, should be motivated to turn to Jesus during all the storms in our live, knowing that the boat of our life can never sink when Jesus is in it.
Perhaps it is only when we experience a storm that we can identify who the real disciple of Christ is. We have the choice to “stick on” to Jesus to let him lead us through or we can “jump out” from our boat, trying to look for alternative human strength or other worldly power to overcome our problems.
In fact, I have encountered quite a number of Christians who are generous with their time and money in Church when it was smooth sailing for them in their business or career. But when a life crisis hits, you see them turn to other sources for help. They seek out feng shui masters, wear crystals and stones that can “change their misfortune”, or seek advice from fortune tellers. They would rather spend money and misplace trust to seek help from these other sources than go straight to Jesus…. Our Lord and saviour who provides free help, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Let us all TRUST....and be fearless!
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Stay tuned for the next post by Br David Arulanatham on 30th Oct 2010.
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