When We Face a Fear, What Do We Do?
“It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him.
(The Gospel of Mark 9: 22-23 NASB)
But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!”
And Jesus said to him,
“If You can?
All things are possible to him who believes.”
Yesterday as I walked, I saw a snake in the road. At first, I was not sure what was in the road, but as I walked closer, my fear was confirmed—Yes, it was a snake, curled up, there in the sun’s heat. Immediately, I stopped in my tracks, turned, and began to walk away from the snake, but as I walked away, fear struck me.
- What if the snake sensed the rhythm of my walk, felt the beat of my steps on the pavement?
- What if the snake uncurled and decided to follow me down the road?
- What if the snake realizes how close I was to its body and thinks I am a predator?
Naturally, these questions caused me to move rather quickly, going AWAY from the snake.
Never did I dream that I would need a skill, one learned long ago, but yesterday I did. Years ago, when I was a student in school, my physical education teachers taught me the skill of walking and even running—backward. So, I turned to face the snake and began to walk backward, leading me away from the snake.
Consider the skill of running backward—It requires—
- That we hold our arms in a certain position.
- That we keep our body erect.
- That we remain mindfully aware, looking straight ahead, that we are going backward, for if we lose focus, we will stumble and fall to the ground.
When we face a fear, what do we do?
This Bible account reveals a father who fears for his child’s life, afraid that when the convulsions begin, the child will fall in the fire or the water—and die. The father sees Jesus, the healer, and asks Him to “take pity on us and help us!”
Before his plea, the father said: ”If You can do anything, . . .”
- What do we do when fear strikes?
- To whom do we turn to for help?
- Where do we go?
Jesus understood the father’s fear for his child’s life, and in Jesus’ response, we learn the TRUTH ABOUT GOD!
“And Jesus said to him,
(The Gospel of Mark 9: 23 NASB)
“If You can?
All things are possible to him who believes.”
Each of us know someone who is afraid to believe. Maybe their struggling between the two worlds, between the two cultures: Unbelief & Belief. Maybe they are afraid. Maybe there are wavering, wondering if this one named Jesus really could be—the Savior of the world.
- Will we lead them to see Jesus?
- Will we guide them to see the One we know has the power to heal their fear, their eternal destruction?
The apostle John recorded these words under the direction of the Holy Spirit:
“But as many as received Him,
(The Gospel According to John 1: 12-13 NASB)
to them He gave the right to become children of God,
even to those who believe in His name,
who were born,
not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man,
but of God.”