When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. But he said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid." Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.

John 6:16-21

Something is wrong with us if we are never afraid. Fear is the natural human reaction to any difficult or dangerous undertaking, and God doesn’t condemn it. Neither does He want us to be crippled by fear. Jesus’ words to His disciples on more than one occasion told them not to fear. In each of these cases He was telling them to stop fearing. This meant that they continued to fear. We do not need to be overcome by our own fears. We should never say no to doing what we know God wants us to do merely because we are fearful. God can turn our fear into fortitude. Courage is not the absence of fear, but the mastery of it. Resist your fear and meet it with faith in our LORD.

We can face any fear when we know the LORD is near.

Our Daily Bread – November 4, 2003