I'm not really a big fan of fireworks. Sure, they're spectacular to watch, but I prefer to keep the decibels in a comfortable range for my eardrums. I guess my two-year-old brother has similar preferences. Once the first few pops of the next-door-neighbors' fireworks went off, my little brother refused to take his hands off his ears - even though he was inside our house the whole time. No matter how we reassured him or how we tried to distract him, his hands stayed firmly planted over his ears. He would have none of it.
I wonder what Noah thought as he watched the waters rise. It mist have been tempting to just close his eyes and plug his ears as the biggest storm earth had ever seen washed away everything Noah had ever known. But faith triumphs over fear, and Noah "did everything just as God commanded him" (Genesis 6:22). God kept Noah and his family, as the song says, "safe and secure from all alarms." I wonder what their prayers were as they offered the first sacrifices in the newly-washed world. I wonder how bold and vibrant the first rainbow was. Now that was a spectacular sight.
After Jesus' death, His disciples were understandably terrified. Their Leader was going to save the world, but now that world had killed Him. What must have been going through their minds as they grieved? Locking themselves in a room, they hid from those who had killed their Master. Essentially, they were closing their eyes and plugging their ears, hoping to wake up from their nightmare. As a result, they were still in hiding when the women discovered the rest of the story God had written. While the women going to the tomb were the first to know that their King had returned to life, the disciples had to hear the good news second-hand. Their fear overcame their faith.
It's easy to let fear overrun faith. It's hard to trust God's plan when ours is unraveling.
It's so easy to walk by sight and not by faith. It's so hard to keep walking by faith when you can't see the next step.
It's hard to trust God when every fiber of your being tells you not to.
It's hard to take your hands off your ears when all your senses tell you to hide.
My little brother just couldn't find the faith to take his hands off his ears. When we tried to talk to him, he couldn't hear us. He wasn't able to listen very well to his movie that we hoped would distract him or to the soothing music we turned on in his room. Eventually, long after all the pops and kabooms had subsided, he fell asleep with one hand still covering his ear. We miss out on a lot when we choose to listen to our fears rather than have faith in our King. You just never know what blessings we may receive from boldly opening our eyes and uncovering our ears.
After the Spirit came to Jesus' followers, the disciples were given a new-found boldness. Not long after Christ's resurrection, Peter and John found themselves standing before the same council that had condemned Jesus to death. Last time, the council made the disciples so afraid that they hid in a locked room for days! This time, however, Peter and John boldly announced to the council that the followers of Christ answer to God and not to men. When commanded not to speak in the name of Christ, they responded, "'Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard'" (Acts 4:19-20). The once fearful disciples had been changed by the God of the universe. No matter what happened in their futures, they knew that they could trust their foundation. There is no need for a Christian to fear! As Peter said,
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
1 Peter 1:3-7
photo credit: Liz Noffsinger
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