From Faith to Fear and Back Again

But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” Matthew 14:30,31

Circumstances have a way of overpowering our ability to trust. What we see with our physical eyes and experience in our day to day living can wreak havoc with our walk of faith. But more so is the power of our interpretation of what things mean in our life. It is the entrance of “possibilities” that can open the door to fear and slam shut the door of faith. After all, Peter stepped out of his boat and on to the water in the midst of a storm and in the presence of Jesus. Neither of those things had changed when he was moved from faith to fear. It takes mere seconds for our mind to go from strong faith to extreme fear. If we do not come against the fear it will take over and we will find ourselves sinking in the midst of a storm.

For each of us the “wind” that we see and become frightened over can take on many different forms. It may be the opinions of others as they question what we are doing. Their look of disdain and verbalized negative responses can be like hurricanes to our soul. It may be a medical diagnosis that changes the entire scope of our life. It may be the loss or change of a job that causes the fear of financial instability to blow us over or take us under. The unknown and what ifs of this life are gales that continually blow for each of us.

We would do well to allow Jesus to ask us the same question He asked Peter, “Why did you doubt?’ Or in a more present sense, in the midst of the storm and the grip of fear the question might be, “Why are you doubting?” What is it that has suddenly obscured my vision and opinion of Jesus? What looks more powerful to me than Him at the moment?

The answer to the fear is always to reclaim and proclaim the truth of who God is and what God can do. When the enemy tries to tell me that He will abandon me, neglect me, or leave me on my own, I must fire back at him what I know to be true. Regardless of what I see and how I feel.

Father, it is easy to doubt You because of the hardships in life. Help me to constantly review the truth of Your power, character, and presence. Amen.