Don't Be Afraid, Just Believe
Jesus often spoke in parables, they are short stories that describe a situation and give it a starling new twist by linking the known with the unknown. Jesus spoke in parables to force listeners to think and discover truth for themselves. My bible let's me know that we must be careful not to read too much into parables but in each one search for a central point and meaning. The central point of The Parable of the Four Soils was to show contrast in the different types of people and how they respond to God's word.
--
The Seed= God's word
Path People = Refuse to believe God's word
Rocky Soil People= Believe, but don't apply it to their lives
Thorn Path People= Overcome by worries & materialism -- leave no room for God
Good Soil People= Follow Jesus no matter what the cost may be.
What type of soil are you?
--
I believe the upkeep of our soil can be harder in some seasons than in others. In one season of your life you may have some rocky soil. That's the reality of following Christ, you won't always get it right. God expects us to fall short because he knows that we aren't perfect. It's in those shortcomings that he wants us to GROW and gain wisdom, not stay stagnated and lose sight of him. When you experience a season of "Rocky Soil" , how will you respond? Will you stay stagnate or will you come out stronger than ever? God pays attention to how we respond to life's situations'.
--
In Luke 8:24 when the disciples woke Jesus because they were afraid of the storm, he asked them, "Where is your faith?" In the middle of the storm the disciples responded with fear, when Jesus was right there with him. Jesus expected them to have faith not fear. Again, how will you respond to the troubles in your life? Faith & fear cannot coexist. (Luke 8:25, 50) I can't count how many times in the bible Jesus said "Don't be afraid" but we see it here in luke 8:50. Jesus told the man not to be afraid, but to believe and she will be healed...wow. If you have fear in your heart seek God about it and ask him to replace it with faith.
--
I'm not saying being fearful is wrong, we are human and we have human emotion. The thing is, we can't allow fear to take up so much space in our lives that faith isn't present. We have to learn to trust God through it all. The woman with the issue of blood had great faith. She believed that even just a touch of the hem of his garment would heal her. ( Luke 8:43-44) But the touch isn't what healed her, her faith did. (Luke 8:48) Your faith is the one thing that's going to save you in this season. God will allow you to get to the lowest of lowest just to test your faith, and that's a test you don't want to fail. I encourage you today to not be afraid, but believe!