Fear or Trust?

Luke 8:22-39

What are you afraid of?

After I saw the movie Jaws as a young boy I was terrified of sharks. I used to have dreams where I was swimming and was attacked by a man-eating shark. The thought of going swimming in the ocean was daunting for me and when I have been near the ocean, I have mostly avoided the water. Now as an adult, I know that the chance of ever being attacked by a shark are very slim (especially in Lake Superior!) but this fear has never fully left me. Fear has a way of paralyzing us.  Whether our fears are rational or not, fear grips us in a way that keeps us from thinking clearly, and when it takes a deeper hold can prevent us from functioning.

So...What are you afraid of? What do you really fear? For it is in our fear that Satan attacks us. It is what we fear the most that becomes the testing ground for our trust in God. If you fear losing your children, Satan will create crippling anxiety about their safety. If you fear a life lived alone, then Satan will convince you that you are unlovable. If you fear a life of meaninglessness, Satan will cause you to doubt your place in the world. Fear is normal and human, but it need not have the last word.  The spiritual antidote to fear is trust; a deep and abiding trust in the Lord. A trust that knows God's loves and knows that whatever happens God will be with us.

The stories of Jesus calming the storm and healing the demon possessed man both feature fear. The disciples are afraid of a wild storm and the Gerasene people fear a wild man. This fear keeps them from trusting and keeps them from truly seeing what God was up to in Jesus. As the disciples were crossing to the other side of the sea of Galilee, a great windstorm rose up and began to sink the boat. The disciples were understandably terrified. They woke Jesus, who then rebuked the storm and rebuked the disciples saying: "where is your faith?" (Luke 8:25) The disciples then question who Jesus really is because of his ability to calm the storm. At this point the disciples had seen Jesus perform miracle after miracle and yet fear still overcame their faith
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When they arrive on shore they immediately meet the demon possessed wild man.  Naked, unchained, and extremely dangerous, this man was surely feared by all. He was also severely tormented and in need of healing. Jesus calms the storm raging in his body and restores the man to full health. The response of the townspeople was to ask Jesus to leave. "Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear." (Luke 8:37) The people had witnessed a great miracle and the man who was feared by all was now restored and in his right mind. Their response could have been to invite Jesus to stay and teach them and heal them. Instead their fears of Jesus' power terrified them. They didn't know who Jesus was but they knew they could not control him. 

The desire to control is intricately linked to a lack of trust. When we know and trust God, we know that even it tough times God is with us.  Our faith teaches us that out of death, despair, and suffering come new life and hope. We are resurrection people who believe that through God all things are possible. Fear undercuts this trust; fear questions these beliefs; fear produces doubt and anxiety.  When we are afraid we often cling to the illusion of control and miss the opportunity to grow in our trust of the Lord. The truth is we cannot control our world, we do not get to live in a world without fear. But we do have a choice. Will we send Jesus away and choose the comfort of the fear we know. Or will we trust Jesus to conquer our fears and lead us into a future we do not control and cannot predict. This is a choice we each must make throughout our lives. I will choose, by the grace of God, to swim with the sharks and trust in God's presence and protection.