Dreaming Beneath the Spires

Anita Mathias's Blog on Faith and Art

In Which I Resolve Not to Be Afraid

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16

 So the disciples row for “three or three and a half miles.” (I love these charming details, John striving to remember accurately–and how they make it easier for us to believe in the truth of these memoirs of Jesus.)

It’s dark; the wind is raging; the waters are rough.

And a figure looms out of the darkness, walking on the waters, approaching the boat.

And they cannot see his face; and they do not know his name

And understandably, they are terrified.

* * *

Who is he who comes walking on the waters, in the dark, when the winds rage, and the sea is rough?

The dark figure terrifies, until he speaks his name, “It is I. Do not be afraid.”

And that too is the aspect He sometimes wears. He appears when it is dark, and the winds are strong, and the waters rough. He walks towards us, a dark figure, and we cannot see his face, and we do not know his name, and we are terrified.

But it is Him, nonetheless, and face to face with the stranger in the darkness, we are to remember God’s most consistent command: Do not be afraid.

And so I will not be afraid.

I shall taste the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

* * *

The Israelites response to the manna which sustained them was “What is it?” In Hebrew, Manna.

“Tell me your name,” Jacob uncertainly asks the dark figure who disabled him. “Who is it?” the disciples wondered, terrified, as a figure looms out the storm and darkness, approaching them.  Or, “Manna.”

The answer was always, is always, the same. For richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, in success or in failure, in rich friendship or loneliness.

It is the Lord.

* * *

Everything we have comes from God. He comes to us in spring and summer–and in winter too. In abundance—and in scarcity too. When life is easy—and when it’s excruciatingly hard.

“Yes,” I say to the dark figure walking towards me amidst the roaring winds and stormy sea. “I know it is you. I have trusted you in the past and I trust you now. I know you.”

“And so, however the dice falls, I know nothing shall separate me from your love, and all shall be well, all shall be well, all manner of things shall be well.”

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Comments

  1. Thanks, Anita, for your words. . . so strong and clear and beautiful. Just what I needed to hear today. I love your confession, “And so I will not be afraid.”

  3. ‘Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading’
    I’ve never noticed that bit before; the apparently miraculous arrival. The detail is quite interesting and I was trying to figure out where the boat might have left from.

    • I have long loved that detail–and have “experienced” it so often, and want to experience it more, again and again.
      There have been times when I have been stuck in writing, or business or in a relationship and all is dark, murky and hopeless and “I cry out to the Lord in my distress” and immediately see a way out of the business morass, or the stagnant or stuck writing, or the relationship going wrong.
      I don’t think Jesus will always allow our boats to immediately reach shore when we call out to him–because we do need to develop our characters–but he often does!!

  5. Thanks for your message today. Sometimes we, who are his children, still fail to recognize God’s presence in our most difficult situations. Even in our daily, common interactions, we fail to see the workings of God. My prayer is for God to open our eyes in every situation, relationship, and activity throughout the day.