Less fear, more faith

“Why are you so afraid? Where is your faith?” - Jesus {Matthew 8:26 & Mark 4:40 & Luke 8:25}

If you have seen our family in worship the past few months, you might have noticed we are plus one kid. We are two months into foster parenting – two life changing, difficult, emotional months. One of these emotions - fear - is a particularly strong emotion. I just finished reading a book titled Parenting Children of Trauma. The author Marcy Pusey is a counselor and foster mom to children with high needs. She explains that fear can cause a fight, flight, or freeze response in our bodies: “A person’s trauma that involved the freeze response does not get assigned a place in time and history like fight and flight. It remains present at all times.”

The disciples woke Jesus saying “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” I try to picture this moment in history vividly. These men are on a small boat with waves crashing over them. They feel intense fear, surely fueled by adrenaline, and are yelling at the sleeping man they claim to be Savior. What a traumatic event!

In this moment, Jesus teaches a great lesson: the presence of intense fear is correlated to a lack of faith. The first few weeks our foster child came home, I couldn’t eat, sleep, or go a day without crying alone. This mirrored the first few weeks we brought Emma home from the hospital, pending adoption. This kind of anxiety, also termed “intense fear”, can be debilitating.

Lord knows, worry and fear will come. But we are called to cling to our faith that Jesus is in the boat with us, totally in control. As we come out of Mental Health Awareness month, let’s ask ourselves:

• Do I have any past trauma that needs to be sorted out with God? Maybe with a counselor? Maybe with a pastor?

• Is my life right now being limited by fear? What light could I bring to the world if I could conquer that fear?

• How can I increase my faith? In other words: what do I need to do each day to build a stronger relationship with my Father?

When you see Jesus’s quote tattooed on my arm, I hope it reminds you as it does me: less fear, more faith.

We are in this crazy life together.

Love,

Leslie