Why are you afraid?

When I found out that morning that Sam's club had run out of toilet paper I was really curious as to WHY Sam's club could run out of anything. I then heard that they have a truck expected any time and we would be allowed to purchase TWO packages per account. This one has me scratching my head with a head tilt and look on my face that matches my 4 pound Yorkie when she knows I'm talking to her but cannot quite decipher the words.

FEAR has consumed our world.

I heard this week that Italy is closed. The country. Closed.

I heard today that Vanderbilt University and many other universities are shutting down and doing online classes for FEAR of their faculty and students contracting the Corona Virus.

This morning I picked up my red Passion Bible and begin to look at a story in Mark 4.

These words from Jesus jumped off the page at me...

"WHY ARE YOU SO AFRAID? HAVE YOU NOT LEARNED TO TRUST ME?"

He said these words to His disciples after they had a complete come-apart and woke Him up from a much needed nap. Granted, they thought they were going to be consumed by the storm that was pounding down on their boat.

But as I read these words this morning, this is my question to myself. It is my question to anyone who has ever put their trust in Jesus. It is my question to believers world-wide. Why exactly ARE we so afraid?

We are afraid for the same reason the men in the boat with Jesus were afraid...They thought they were going to die. Circumstances were pressing on them so hard that they began to fear that they would be consumed. The people around them heard about someone who had fallen overboard during such a storm and had drowned. Another had witnessed a similar storm and saw boats dragged to the bottom of the enormous lake by the waves. What they SAW and HEARD became their expected reality.

They had forgotten WHO was with them.

For while Jesus, the man who was weary was sleeping, Jesus - God in the flesh - was well aware of their struggle for His eyes NEVER left them.

After He calmed the storm with just a few words...He looked at them and asked, Why are you so afraid? Have you not learned to trust Me?

If we dive into the thoughts of scholars on this storm, we see that the wind and waves were in fact caused by a demonic force that wanted to keep Jesus from getting where He was going. He was headed to RESCUE a man that was tormented day and night and was crying out for His help. The storm was just a distraction.

Is it possible that the same is true for what we are hearing from media outlets?

Is this meant to be a distraction to those of us that are called to spread the love of Jesus?

From what I see from many sources the FLU is killing more people than the Corona.

Can I pose a question to us all in the light of this world wide scare... WHY ARE WE SO AFRAID?

Is it because other people are telling us to be afraid?

Is it because we have seen storms like this and they did not end well?

Is it because we go to area stores and realize that if everyone else is buying up the sanitizer and the cleaning supplies and the toilet paper that we should too because they must know something we dont!?

Life and death is in the power of the tongue. Can it be that the more its talked about, the more ground it gets?

I am challenging myself today to not forget WHO is with me.

I am asking Him to provide wisdom to keep my loved ones safe from ALL germs, illness, disease and harm...the same way I do EVERY day.

I am reminding myself and those around me that FEAR, CHAOS, CONFUSION and PANIC are never from God. HE gives us a spirit of peace, love and a sound mind.

Be brave and bold today.

Do not let fear consume you.

Sit still and take a deep breath.

And for the love...please spare a square.