Creepy

Luke 8:24 ESV

There are things on planet earth that totally creep me out…always have and they probably always will.

Lizard, snakes, and really any other reptile make me shake and shutter.

At the same time even though I really hate reptiles I have become addicted to a current planet earth series. That’s because even though I really don’t want to cuddle up with a reptile, my number one gift is learning. I kinda figure if I learn more about reptiles I will at lease develop an appreciation for what they do on the planet.

After all…God created reptiles for a reason. They have their own gift to give to planet earth.

Water has also been a source of fear in my life. The two together are like my perfect storm. So when I was a small child and I saw a snake in the same lake I was in, that did me in for good.

I’ve forever stayed clear of both. While my ultra fear of both may seem strange to some, that fear made it so I understand fear.

In Luke 8:24 we are told, “And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm.”

In a strange sort of way when I first read this account of the wind and the waves as a child, I really understood the fear factor. Association after all is a powerful tool that can be used for good. Emotions and behavior are extremely difficult to unlearn.

The account in Luke 8:24 reminded me that the elements (wind and water) are not beyond God’s reach.

Allow me to explain…when I was younger I would ask my dad regularly about God’s scope and power. I was 13 when I asked my dad those questions so I asked “what IS God’s job?”

It may seem a little strange now but at the time it seemed to be a perfectly normal way to learn more about God so I would know how to pray.

Even when I was young I wanted to know how to talk to God. My dad read his old Bible cover to cover several times in his life as he studied for his Sunday School lesson so I took all of my hard question to him.

Interestingly enough, he did not give me answers but he repeatedly asked questions that gave me a desire to read scripture.

He goaded me.

Constantly.

I remember walking away from him wondering why he didn’t just give me the answer…

Later in life I learned if you give a man a fish you feed him for a day but if you teach him how to fish you feed him for a lifetime.

Even before that saying was popular…

Even before the internet…

My dad was teaching me how to find the answers myself.

It turned out to be one of the greatest gifts he gave me. I was 34 years old when he passed over the bridge to everlasting life.

By not giving me the easy road to the answer, he gave me the gift of praying and problem solving to fish for the answers myself.

Deborah

acrazyjourney.com