Don't Freak Out!!

I think we'll take a short hiatus from relationship blogs. I started working on a "love triangle" blog but it got all tangled up--for real! So, we'll come back to love later. In the meantime, do you ever totally freak out?

Freak out - to panic and/or lose control

I'm ashamed to admit that I am the queen of freaking out. It used to be really  bad when I was a teenager: I had major tantrums.

Tantrum - a violent demonstration of rage or frustration; a sudden burst of ill temper.

Imagine a much tinier, human,  female version of Godzilla destroying New York City. That was my reaction to my printer breaking the night before an American History essay was due. So you could imagine the freak out of real issues.

The thing about freak outs and tantrums is there is always a simple alternative to it: don't freak out. But, it's so much easier said than done.

Now on one of those days Jesus and His disciples got into a boat, and He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they launched out. But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger. They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm. And He said to them, “Where is your faith?”

Luke 8:22-25 

Admittedly, this incident has always bothered me a little. In this story, the disciples are this cautionary tale. They are these faithless, spiritually immature crazies who have watched Jesus perform all sorts of miracles, yet they still freak out over a storm. We all read the story and we echo Jesus: "Yeah! Where was your faith guys?!"

Psssh!

I would have done the exact same thing as them! The storm was real. They "began to be swamped and to be in danger." They were in real danger. And when they go down to wake Jesus, they're not worried about the boat. They're not worried about just some wind and rain...this is about their lives. And in that moment, they ran to Jesus. Why is that wrong?

When I'm afraid for my life, the first thing I do is pray: "Jesus, Jesus...I'm dying! Help me!"

Same. Same. No?

What went wrong here?

I'm going out a limb, but Jesus said: "Let us go over to the other side of the lake." God won't start you on a journey that He can't finish. Jesus can go to sleep, because He's already declared that they are going to the other side of the lake. The disciples didn't realize the power of Christ's word, or they would have known: this storm can't stop us from getting to the other side of the lake. 

We're the same way. We freak out over a circumstance that is legit, but we don't realize that even the worst circumstance is subordinate to God's Word. Whatever He says, it will take place. It's hard to believe sometimes, but reflecting on His Word can really diffuse the freak out and calm the tantrum.

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there without watering the earth
And making it bear and sprout,
And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;

So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;
It will not return to Me empty,
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. 

Isaiah 55:10-11