For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (2 Tim. 1:7)
Fear is a natural instinct. Without fear we wouldn't know enough to stay away from things and situations that pose a potential danger to us, such as a raging fire or a powerful storm. But fear, like everything else that comes natural to us, is often distorted by the Devil and used to draw us away from God.
None of us are without our worries and fears in life. Even the smallest of these is sinful in that it demonstrates a lack of faith in God, who has specifically commanded us not to be concerned with the cares of this world. Yet, not only do we continue to fear, but quite often we allow those fears to become so prevalent that they consume our every thought. We worry about our health, our jobs, our family, and just about everything else. Fear becomes the focus of our lives, directing and controlling our feelings and actions.
In the Gospel of Matthew, we read that after Jesus had fed the five thousand, He instructed His disciples to enter a ship on the Sea of Galilee while He went alone to pray into the night hours. In ancient Israel, the night was divided into four "watches", and it was during the fourth and final watch when the ship encountered a terrible storm. As the disciples awake, they see Jesus walking towards them on the water, and were immediately struck with fear. But when Peter recognizes that it is the Lord, he asks that he be allowed to draw near to Him, and Jesus commands him to do so. As Peter begins to walk on the water, he soon realizes that the winds are fierce and begins to sink. Peter cries out to his Lord in fear, Christ takes him by the hand, and the winds cease. Peter, of course, received a chastising from Jesus for his lack of faith.
Note that the storm occurs in the fourth watch, just before dawn, when the night was at its darkest point. Peter sees his Lord and is comforted, but the moment he takes his eyes off of Him and focuses upon the storm, he begins to sink. If only we could learn to keep our hearts and minds focused upon God, we would never pay attention to the storms of this life, and we would never be afraid!
In the canon of the Orthodox funeral service we sing: Beholding the sea of life, surging with the storm of temptations, and taking refuge in Thy calm haven I cry unto Thee: raise up my life from corruption, O greatly Merciful One. In life, we are beset with the continuous temptations of anxiety and worry, thrust upon us by the Evil One, who would like nothing better than to have us turn our focus away from God and toward our own worldly cares. The one sure remedy for stress and anxiety is to heed the words which the Lord has given us: Be still, and know that I Am God (Ps. 46:10).
Fear is a natural instinct. Without fear we wouldn't know enough to stay away from things and situations that pose a potential danger to us, such as a raging fire or a powerful storm. But fear, like everything else that comes natural to us, is often distorted by the Devil and used to draw us away from God.
None of us are without our worries and fears in life. Even the smallest of these is sinful in that it demonstrates a lack of faith in God, who has specifically commanded us not to be concerned with the cares of this world. Yet, not only do we continue to fear, but quite often we allow those fears to become so prevalent that they consume our every thought. We worry about our health, our jobs, our family, and just about everything else. Fear becomes the focus of our lives, directing and controlling our feelings and actions.
In the Gospel of Matthew, we read that after Jesus had fed the five thousand, He instructed His disciples to enter a ship on the Sea of Galilee while He went alone to pray into the night hours. In ancient Israel, the night was divided into four "watches", and it was during the fourth and final watch when the ship encountered a terrible storm. As the disciples awake, they see Jesus walking towards them on the water, and were immediately struck with fear. But when Peter recognizes that it is the Lord, he asks that he be allowed to draw near to Him, and Jesus commands him to do so. As Peter begins to walk on the water, he soon realizes that the winds are fierce and begins to sink. Peter cries out to his Lord in fear, Christ takes him by the hand, and the winds cease. Peter, of course, received a chastising from Jesus for his lack of faith.
Note that the storm occurs in the fourth watch, just before dawn, when the night was at its darkest point. Peter sees his Lord and is comforted, but the moment he takes his eyes off of Him and focuses upon the storm, he begins to sink. If only we could learn to keep our hearts and minds focused upon God, we would never pay attention to the storms of this life, and we would never be afraid!
In the canon of the Orthodox funeral service we sing: Beholding the sea of life, surging with the storm of temptations, and taking refuge in Thy calm haven I cry unto Thee: raise up my life from corruption, O greatly Merciful One. In life, we are beset with the continuous temptations of anxiety and worry, thrust upon us by the Evil One, who would like nothing better than to have us turn our focus away from God and toward our own worldly cares. The one sure remedy for stress and anxiety is to heed the words which the Lord has given us: Be still, and know that I Am God (Ps. 46:10).
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