Fear can be a funny thing. It seems to me that these days, people are afraid of almost anything. I was watching a tv show a while back and they had guests on with irrational fears. One person was terrified of mustard. Every time they brought a bottle on stage, the person nearly passed out. Take a few minutes as a family and talk about what some of the funniest, non-scary things are that someone could be afraid of.
I bet you came up with some funny things about which people could be afraid. Some of the things people are afraid of just doesn’t make sense. But did you know that Jesus looks at all fear the same way?
Read Matthew 8:23-27 as a family.
”23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” 26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”
Did you see Jesus’ reaction? Here are the disciples and their boat is about to sink. If there was ever a time where it looked ok to be fearful it was then. But Jesus asked them why they were so afraid. The disciples had just seen Jesus heal people and cure them from their diseases, feed over 5000 people with just a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish, and perform numerous miracles. They knew Jesus was in charge and that He had ultimate power. Jesus basically said, why in the world would you be afraid of anything when you know how strong I am and how much you can trust Me.
Take a minute and talk as a family about some real fears that you have. Mom and Dad, maybe share what you were afraid of when you were your kids ages. Then, take a moment to pray together to tell Jesus you won’t be afraid anymore because you trust He is stronger than your fears!
