On the Other Side of FEAR
By Bunni Pounds
There are people waiting for us on the other side of our fear.
As I was reading Mark 4 the other day - the story of Jesus calmly resting in the middle of the storm, I was reminded that sometimes we have to make a choice to go over to the other side.
“That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, ‘Let us go over to the other side.’ Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat.” -Mark 4:35-36
By that one choice to get into the boat, Jesus and his disciples put themselves in a place of vulnerability on a soon to be raging sea in order to make it to the people on the other side.
Jesus left one place for another.
When they arrived on the other side, there was a demoniac who desperately needed freedom.
“When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him.” -Mark 5:2
You can read the whole story in Mark 5. It is fascinating.
When I was sharing last Sunday on a Zoom call with some leaders about Jesus’ response of faith versus fear in the middle of the storm, this jumped out to me…So I just said it - there is someone waiting for us on the other side of our fear.
It is time to break off fear and speak PEACE in the midst of our storm.
I started this crisis back in March with that message in my heart - Coronavirus: Break Off the Fear, and after six weeks or more for most of us under “stay at home ordinances” - it is time to use wisdom but BREAK off the fear for the sake of others.
We cannot let this ‘storm’ paralyze us into a place where we don’t serve or help someone else. If we have an opportunity to help someone but we don’t do it out of fear, we are not in the right place.
The disciples in the above-mentioned story were freaking out.
Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” -Mark 4:38-41
Here is Jesus at complete rest IN the middle of the storm, but his disciples are choosing fear rather than faith.
As I say this, I am speaking over my own life as well - Friends, it is time for us to break off the fear again!
I am one of those moms who let my boys suck on every restaurant table, the grocery cart, and pacifiers off the floor. They ate bugs and mud. All of it was building their immune system, right?
My sister on the other hand had the special covering with ruffles that she placed over the shopping cart to protect my niece. She sanitized everything that she touched. She didn’t operate with the same “free” perspective on germs as I did with my boys.
My point?
I am not a germophobe. I have been on the extreme other side of this germ reality - living my life, but EVEN I have been dealing with fear during these days of coronavirus.
I have looked at people with a suspicion that they are too close.
I have sanitized my hands the moment I get to the car from being out (not a bad thing, but also not my normal behavior).
I have avoided doing a few things outside of my house that could have been a blessing to others - to protect myself.
I am speaking to myself here as well - it is time to break off the fear.
Our board member and one of my dear friends, Samuel Bistrian, sent me over a piece he wrote late last week called The Invisible Enemy. As I read it - I actually felt fear leaving me. There was a holy boldness that rose up in me to say - Heck NO! No more fear.
I encourage you to read it and then speak these words to your soul today as our state reopens in phase one - PEACE be still!
It is time to make a choice to go over to the other side even in the midst of the storm.
Someone who needs help or freedom is waiting for us on the other side of our FEAR.
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