Dave's Diary

Before you read, I invite you to pray this prayer based on Psalm 119:76-77

Lord, may Your unfailing love be my comfort,
just as You have promised
In Your great mercy, cause me to delight in obeying Your law,
so that I may truly live!
Amen.

Briefly prepare your heart in silence, and ask the Holy Spirit to awaken your awareness to the voice of God, coming to you through His Word.

Reading

Matthew 8:23-27 

Following Jesus requires the regular exercise of faith over fear.

The disciples were not caught in a storm because they had been disobedient to Jesus. They were in the storm precisely because they were staying close to Jesus and following Him.

Each of us may experience many storms of life over the course of our discipleship. Some storms might be brought about simply because of the fallen world we live in – storms like disease and disaster. But others may come our way precisely because we’re following Jesus – storms like persecution, or losses we suffer due to our unwillingness to compromise.

When storms come, Jesus does not want us to panic. He longs for us to turn to Him and find in Him the wisdom, courage and strength to make it through the storm. He wants us to choose faith over fear in our decision-making.

It’s not that fear is bad in itself. Fear is a God-given instinct that often helps to preserve our lives. For disciples of Jesus, the issue is that we should not allow fear to turn us away from following Jesus. If Jesus says, “Row the boat in this direction”, then that’s the direction we must go, regardless of the size of the waves. We cannot allow fear to rule over us. That position belongs to Jesus.

Faith – trusting Jesus enough to obey Him – will empower us to follow Him, whichever road He calls us down, or whichever lake He calls us to cross.

Contemplation

Please take time to ponder what Jesus has commanded us. Turn these declarations over in your mind. Keep them in mind throughout the day and live in step with Your King, Jesus.

As a disciple of Jesus Christ: 

• I will choose faith over fear.
• I will trust Jesus enough to follow and obey Him.

Lord, please grant me the supernatural gift of faith, by the power of the Holy Spirit in me. Empower and enable me to choose the path of faith over fear today. Amen.