Nighttime Struggle

My son is discovering, for the first time, fear. We are careful about what we let our children, watch, but "scary things" are inevitable. Corban recently used a b-day gift card to purchase a Buzz-lightyear with a lazer beam that also casts an image of Zurg (Buzz lightyear's evil nemesis from Toy Story) on the wall. Corban carefully places Buzz just outside his bedroom door before going to bed each night. He must sleep with a book in his bed. However, he will not sleep with a book with the word "monster" or a picture of a scary person anywhere in the book. He can't read, but he can tell you which books contain the "scary" words or pictures. Corban's strangest fear is a fear of the sun coming up. Rachael and I haven't figured out where the fear is in that yet. But it is evident that he is well aware that there are some things in life that cause fear.

I fear this trend of realization will never cease. However, I know from experience what Corban does not: that some things are not worth fearing. In Mark 4 the Apostles are stranded in the middle of a storm with Jesus. The waves are threatening, boat is small, Jesus is asleep, Apostles are afraid. They wake Jesus and voice in v. 38 their dread of drowning. Jesus rebukes the storm, and then he rebukes his apostles. "Why are you so afraid?" You see, they feared creation and Jesus has that under control. What gets me is that in v. 41 the apostles had been afraid of the storm, but now they are "terrified" of Jesus, the creator. First, they feared what was not worth their concern. Then they learned a Godly fear. And with that kind of fear, we don't have to be afraid.

What do you fear?

Why are you afraid?