By Rebekah Siah
In my season of growing up, I had fears, and yes, I still do. These fears vary from physical to spiritual ones. Everyone has them, and if I were to define in hierarchical order all my fears in the past, I had this greatest one at its peak that I was somehow willing to risk and undergo. Sounds ironic? Well, this perilous decision I made led me to something so precious that I would never ever want to lose it. Allow me to demonstrate it in a life situation:
Imagine two scenarios. In one of them, on an evening, you and your friends are walking and running along the beach, chit-chatting, laughing, embracing all the fun you can. Or on a different occasion, you are standing by the beach all alone, staring at the horizon on a nearby island with a dense feeling of brokenness and hurt.
In these two scenarios, the same event happened, in which you see a person so gloriously approaching you specifically and saying, “I have known you and loved you. I am the way, the truth, and the life, and I have come that you may have life and abundant joy. I promise you everlasting life and a place in the kingdom of Heaven where there will be no tears, no pain, no sin and suffering, no dispute, and no fear. But you can only enter the kingdom of Heaven through the narrow gate where its road is narrow and difficult.
“In your journey along the road, there will be temptations, challenges, and trials. You may have to pass through the waters and rivers or walk through fire, but fear not, I am always with you to lead you, guide you, protect you, and help you because I love you. As I lead you through this journey, will you follow me where I can bring you to a greater destiny?”
Whichever scenario you imagine yourself to be in, you are given the same invitation. This too became a demonstration of my greatest fear and passing through this stage was never easy. Although I will have to walk past waters and fire still, these fears have turned to joy so that I can express with the same great and immense conviction that Paul had, when he said, “Count it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds” (James 1:2). Every trial became so beautiful that it engraved divine remembrance of the goodness and reality of God in my life.
In my Christian walk, I have encountered many individuals who take this decision-making seriously, laying out the same response and reaction which is the fear of what will come later (“What will happen after I give my heart to Christ?”). Don’t get me wrong, it’s all right to feel this way as it manifests one’s reflection in acknowledging God’s sovereignty, power, and holiness. Thus, let this acknowledgement of who God is, be an assurance that He will always be with His people and that He will never forsake them.
Mark 4:35-41 is a story of Jesus rebuking the storms. The emphasis is given to verse 35.
That day when evening came, He said to His disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.”
Mark 4:35 (NIV)
Jesus extended the invitation to His disciples to follow Him and go together to the other side. When He made the offer, He was sure to be with them on the very boat where they would later face a deadly and threatening event that could cost them their lives. Yet, because Jesus was on the boat, He was aroused when one of His disciples woke Him up, and instantly, they experienced an astounding miracle right before their very eyes that shook them to their core!
Imagine if the people of God are constantly encountering the manifestation of the awesome power and reality of God in different trials; wouldn’t it be amazing? And all we need is just simple faith in Him (verse 40). With such assurance embedded in us, every storm will now be converted to exceeding joy and love that casts out all fear!
When Jesus invited His disciples to travel over to the other side, the Word of God clearly elucidated the responses of His disciple. They responded with a ‘yes’. Reversing back to the scenarios that I demonstrated at the beginning, in such situations, what will our responses be?
If the disciples were to reject Jesus’ invitation, they would have lived a cosy and ordinary life while missing out on the extraordinary revelation of the power of God. When Jesus offers us to shift, He transitions His people from natural to supernatural and from ordinary to extraordinary, bearing His promises that not even for a second will He leave us, nor will He forsake us.
There are tons of testimonies to testify God in my journey facing the storms. There are times where situations trigger me mentally, emotionally, and physically. Yet, spiritually, I always experience a surreal, indescribable presence of God that surpasses other pains, and looking through this lens, every situation has always been a beautiful one, knowing that Jesus is always so real and so close to me in those moments.
The storms that I journeyed with Jesus are always the most beautiful and striking moments of my life. My ‘yes’ to God has brought me so much closer to Him that I couldn’t help loving this wonderful, precious, and awesome Father more and more each day.
Hence, do not be fearful of the storms that might come your way. Our Heavenly Father is a loving father that is ever faithful to His promises. He sees us, knows us, loves us too much to let us walk on waters alone and you know you can trust God to not allow challenges that you can’t handle to operate in your life because He knows your limits.
He chose you and first loved you. Thus, Jesus extends His invitation very specifically to you, and when He does, you can trust Him to be responsible to take you through this journey.
So, what will your response be today?
About Rebekah
Due to her reading pleasure, Rebekah Siah is currently pursuing MA in Postcolonial Literature in UKM and this significant path kickstarts her enthusiasm in understanding humanity through writings as it enables her to dissect the works of worldview and incorporate Kingdom-view into humanities. Besides reading, she enjoys writing, composing and playing music as platforms to express herself.
Rebekah’s life as a child of God has been an amazing one. As one describes, life is a roller-coaster ride where every sense of emotion comes into place but there is always a reminder of the goodness of the heavenly Father. ‘Every ride of ups and downs in life is so much more beautiful with Jesus than a smooth ride of life without Jesus’.
