{"id":4152,"date":"2019-12-03T04:37:38","date_gmt":"2019-12-03T04:37:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wpmu.azurewebsites.net\/nlt\/?p=4152"},"modified":"2021-12-08T09:21:00","modified_gmt":"2021-12-08T09:21:00","slug":"when-the-fears-dont-go-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/2019\/12\/03\/when-the-fears-dont-go-away\/","title":{"rendered":"When the Fears Don\u2019t Go Away"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, \u201c’Lord, save us! We\u2019re going to drown!’\u201d Matthew 8:25, NLT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Although the disciples had witnessed many miracles, they panicked in this storm. As experienced sailors, they knew its danger; what they did not know was that Jesus could control the forces of nature. We often encounter storms in our lives where we feel God can\u2019t or won\u2019t work. When we truly understand who God is, however, we will realize that he controls both the storms of nature and the storms of the troubled heart. Jesus\u2019 power that calmed this storm can also help us deal with the problems we face. And he is with us. Jesus is willing to help if we only ask him. We should never discount his power even in terrible trials.”<\/p>Note from the <\/a>Life Application Study Bible<\/a><\/em>, Third Edition<\/a><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
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Reflection from Evie, Bible Team Marketing Coordinator<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was the third e-mail in a month from our daughter\u2019s middle school. \u201cViolence has been threatened against the school, but we are handling the situation and the person who initiated the threat is not on campus.\u201d That was basically all we got. We spoke to Els about the situation and she didn\u2019t seem overly concerned. In what is unfortunately our reality we moved on thinking it was \u201cjust\u201d a social media prank. We prayed with her, told her to pay attention to her surroundings, and to share with her teachers and us if anything didn\u2019t feel right or she was scared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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But at dinner the next night Els said, \u201cMy friend was shaking she was so scared. She was on the bus when she heard a boy say, \u2018Don\u2019t come to school during 5^{th<\/sup>\u20137^{th<\/sup> period today because I\u2019m going to shoot up the school.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n}}
As any self-proclaimed protective momma bear would, I ran\naround the table hugging her as a million thoughts consumed me. How can we\nhomeschool her? What is wrong with that school? Wait until the principal gets\nan earful from me! Who is that kid? I am talking to his parents! But in the\nmidst of my chaotic thoughts her sweet voice broke through. \u201cIt\u2019s okay, Mom.\nGod knows what\u2019s going on. It\u2019s going to be okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taking extra time to tuck her into bed that night, I glanced\naround her room. There were porgs, cuddly droids, and strange looking animals\nfrom a galaxy far, far away spilling from her bed to the floor. The half-read\ngiant encyclopedias filled with information about strange looking creatures\nwith even weirder names were hastily placed on surfaces throughout her room. She\nwas just a kid. She shouldn\u2019t have to worry about her safety. I took comfort in\nknowing that in just a few days we would be able to get away to Disney World. She\nneeded an escape\u2014I needed an escape\u2014from the fears of violence at school. And\nthe chance to be immersed in a Stars Wars land\u2014I couldn\u2019t wait to see her face!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The day arrived to visit Star Wars: Galaxy\u2019s Edge. It was still dark when we boarded a bus from our resort to head to the park. Els seemed quiet, and we thought she was just tired from such an early morning. As we made our way toward the immersive land she started walking slower and then stopped. \u201cMom, I don\u2019t want to go!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat? You love Star Wars. You are going. You\u2019ll love it!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo. Kylo Ren is there. I\u2019m not going.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our brave, mellow preteen broke down sobbing. She panicked. We\ncouldn\u2019t get her to move. She just sobbed saying, \u201cI\u2019m scared. I\u2019m too scared.\u201d\nI had never seen her so upset and honestly didn\u2019t know what to do. She was\nparalyzed with fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With a lot of convincing and some bribing about blue milk we finally got her to move. As we walked into this totally immersive experience, I prayed that Kylo would stay in his own galaxy far, far away and we wouldn\u2019t lose Els’ trust. She was shaking from fear when we noticed one of the characters working on a ship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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We started talking to him and I explained how our daughter was very scared of the First Order (the bad guys). I asked if he had any tips for avoiding them while we visited his planet (I totally bought into the whole immersive thing). He said, \u201cOh yes! I\u2019m finishing here. Let me grab my tools and I\u2019ll take you to the Falcon.\u201d He jumped over the low wall and encouraged us to follow him. \u201cHi, I\u2019m Immanuel. Don\u2019t worry, I know all the best hiding places. I will get you there safely,\u201d he said smiling at Els. He guided us through the entire extremely detailed and beautiful imaginary world. As he ran ahead to check that everything was safe and then signaled for us to follow, I watched Els’ fears fade. Her eyes began to sparkle as fear lost its grip and enjoyment and excitement grew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When we neared the Millennium Falcon, with his reassurance that we were safe, our hero left us extremely thankful. (Sorry Han Solo\u2014Immanuel is now my favorite Star Wars character!) My mom in all her wisdom turned to Els and said, \u201cDo you know what Immanuel means? It means God with us. What you were afraid of never went away. Your fears were always around you, but you could get through it because Immanuel was with us. If we are walking with God, it doesn\u2019t matter what\u2019s going on around us. We can be confident knowing he is with us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I think about those weeks and my mom\u2019s words, I am\ntaken to the boat where Jesus and the disciples are traveling across the lake.\nWhile Jesus naps, a storm hits and the disciples are paralyzed with fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
$\"\"$ <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe disciples went and woke him up, shouting, \u2018Lord, save\nus! We\u2019re going to drown!\u2019 Jesus responded, \u2018Why are you afraid? You have so\nlittle faith!\u2019 Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly\nthere was a great calm. The disciples were amazed. \u2018Who is this man?\u2019 they\nasked. \u2018Even the winds and waves obey him!\u2019\u201d Matthew 8:25-27, NLT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It wasn\u2019t like the disciples hadn\u2019t seen Jesus perform\nmiracles before that moment. They had seen him heal numerous people, including\nPeter\u2019s mother-in-law. They had heard his powerful teaching, and they were\nstill afraid. Many of them were seasoned fishermen who had been in loads of\nstorms, and yet it was at this moment that they panicked. It was a fear they\nknew and understood. So much of what they were hearing from Jesus they couldn\u2019t\nfully understand, but this . . . this they knew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
$\"\"$ <\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
What they didn\u2019t fully understand yet was the power of\nImmanuel. They knew to run to Jesus to be saved, but that deeper trust of being\nconfident in his presence was still being formed in them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what about my life? The things I\u2019m afraid of won\u2019t disappear. My stomach still churns each time I see an e-mail pop up from Els’ school. Els is still afraid of Kylo Ren. But when we learn to bask in the understanding of Immanuel, when we know that he has the power and compassion to walk with us through the unknown and the known fears, we can go forward with confidence. We can experience an overwhelming peace knowing he can bring calm to any storm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Learn more about the <\/a>Life Application Study Bible<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, \u201c’Lord, save us! We\u2019re going to drown!’\u201d Matthew 8:25, NLT “Although the disciples had witnessed many miracles, they panicked in this storm. As experienced sailors, they knew its danger; what they did not know was that Jesus could control the forces of nature. We often encounter storms […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15,39,42,44,52,55],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4152"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4152"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5746,"href":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4152\/revisions\/5746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}