A friend once gave me a picture. I love it and have it somewhere I can see it often. It has a mouse floating on a dandelion seed and says ‘let your faith be bigger than your fear’.
Part of what I love about it is that it doesn’t say ‘don’t be afraid’ which is something we are often told. That phrase appears many times in the bible. Now, I don’t know about you, but being told to not be afraid is not the most comforting thing to hear. It’s not like I can just switch off fear as an emotion! So this picture gives advice that is easier to take on board – don’t let fear dictate your actions, choose faith instead.
One of my go to bible stories comes after Jesus feeds the 5000. He sends the disciples ahead across the lake while he takes some time alone, then he walks across the water to get to the other side. There is a massive storm and the disciples’ boat is still trying to sail across so Jesus catches them up. The disciples don’t recognise him at first and think he’s a ghost. Then he calls out to them (to not be afriad…) and they recognise him. And Peter, our favourite impulsive disciples calls out to Jesus, saying, “Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you on the water.” So Jesus says, ‘Come!”
Now, the disciples were human, just like you and me. They were also fishermen, so used to the lake and its currents. And yet the storm was so bad that they were scared. So Peter is facing all of that when Jesus calls him to step out. I personally wouldn’t have blamed him if he had decided to stay in the boat. Except…
He must be feeling afraid at that point, but he trusts Jesus enough to take that first step. And he doesn’t sink! He actually walks on water! Imagine what that would feel like. Imagine the trust he must have had in Jesus to obey that command.
When people use the excuse ‘so and so told me to do it’ and they are then asked, ” If they told you to jump off a cliff, would you do it?” I know the answer is supposed to be no. But if you trusted the person asking you, and I mean really trusted them, would you do it then? Would you assume that they had a good reason for asking you to do it, even though it defied logic? Would you trust that no harm would come to you?
Because that’s what Peter shows here. Logically, he should have stayed in the boat where it was safe (ish) but he chooses faith and experiences something incredible. He trusted Jesus enough to know that no harm would come to him if he obeyed. And Jesus showed that trust was well placed. As long as Peter focused on faith, he stayed on the surface. When the fear took over he started to sink, and Jesus immediately reached out and stopped him sinking. Immediately. No harm came to Peter for being obedient.
So back to my mouse floating on a dandelion seed. I imagine that would be quite an experience! But only if that mouse chose to move past the fear. What opportunities do we miss because of fear?
So I like to be reminded that feeling fear is not a bad thing, as long as my faith is bigger. Because fear means I don’t act rashly, but if my faith is strong enough, I won’t miss the opportunities and experiences God is calling me into.
The Reason for my Hope Blog 