22 One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. 23 As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.
24 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”
He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25 “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples.
In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”
Luke 8:22-25
For years, I have read this scripture and never focused on this bold question from Jesus. Today I want to share a podcast episode with you that opened my eyes about this passage while also sharing one of the most encouraging messages on fear I have ever heard.
But I want to start with this question.
Where is you faith?
Is Jesus asking the disciples where their faith has gone, as though they lost it?
Or is he asking them, “Where are you placing your faith? Who–or what–has your faith?”
We all put our faith in something. In fortune. In health. In parents. In government. As a fearful person always seeking security, I like to scatter my faith around in several places, just in case one of them fails me. If I were a phrase, it would be, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” If one slips and an egg cracks, I still have some left.
But eggs are fragile, and so are many of these things that I put my faith in. Only One can truly handle my faith with care, promising to never leave or forsake me.
In his two interviews on The Journeywomen Podcast, Pastor Matt Lantz argues that, just as our faith can be misplaced, so can our fear.
The disciples placed their fear in the wind in waves. But after Jesus calms the storm, Luke writes that the disciples looked at him with “fear and amazement.” It was only then that their fear was focused on the only One who truly deserved it.
Matt Lantz uses this story to introduce a new way of looking at fear and what it means to fear God. This interview has helped me in so many ways, and I finally decided it was time to share it with you.
There are two interviews here. I would suggest listening to them in order even though it is the second one that focuses on this topic the most.
I hope these inspire you as much as they inspired me!
Emily Brooks 