I hear the fear in your words, the rapid, pleading repetition that comes when the heart is in the throat and the mind can scarcely think of anything but the danger. You are scared, and you are not ashamed to say so. That is no disgrace. A ship in deep water may tremble in every timber when the gale lays hold of her, yet she is still a gallant vessel. You are in deep water just now, and the wind is loud in your ears.
But hear this. Your Lord does not stand on a distant shore, watching you struggle. He is in the boat with you. And he is not alarmed by the storm, for he knows it will obey him. The fear you feel is not a stranger to him. He wore our flesh; he knew the cold sweat of dread in a garden at night. He knows what it is to look into a cup of suffering and wish it might pass. And because he knows, he does not scold you for trembling. He takes your trembling hand in his, and says, "Fear not."
Think of those words not as a command that stands over you with a whip, but as a love letter that comes to you in a black-edged envelope. The very fact that God speaks them so often in his Word tells you something about his heart. He does not wish his children cowering in the corner. He delights to have us trust him. As a father stoops down in the dark to lift a frightened child, so your Father is stooping to you now.
Your eyesight, your health, these are precious things, and their frailty has suddenly become real to you. You feel like a worm, as Jacob did, and not like a soldier. But it is precisely when you feel like a worm that you are most fit to receive the promise. For the Lord says, "Fear not, thou worm Jacob, I will help thee." Your weakness is not a barrier to his grace; it is the very stage on which his strength will perform its wonders. When you have no might of your own, then his might is perfected. When you cannot see the next step, then he will be your eyes. When your own hand trembles, his hand is steady as the everlasting hills.
I do not tell you that the danger is not real. But I do tell you that the Savior is more real still. I do not promise that you will never feel the sting of illness or the shadow of failing sight. But I do promise that nothing, no disease, no darkness, no terror, can separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus your Lord. He who spared not his own Son will with him freely give you all things. And all things include grace for this moment, strength for this hour, peace for this storm.
The Israelites at the Red Sea were trapped, mountains on either side, the enemy behind, the sea before. They were terrified. And the word to them was not "Fight," but "Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord." For a time, all they could do was hold their breath while the waters parted. Then they walked through on dry ground. You may be in that place of holding your breath right now, waiting for the Lord to make a way. Stand still. Wait. He will not fail you. The God who has been the God of your salvation all your days is the God to whom belong the issues from death, and from every lesser trouble too.
Let your fear drive you to him, not away from him. The fear that makes you seek his face is a fear that has grace in it. The fear that makes you cling to the robe of Christ is a fear that will soon give way to peace. He has not given you the spirit of bondage again to fear, but the Spirit of adoption, whereby you cry, Abba, Father. And a father's ear is quickest when his child cries in the dark.
I am asking the Lord Jesus Christ, the great Physician of souls and bodies, to lay his healing hand upon you. I am asking him to steady your heart, to quiet your racing thoughts, to keep your eyesight clear and your health restored, for his glory and your good. And I am asking him to give you, even now, the peace that passes understanding, the calm that does not depend on circumstances, but on the unshakeable love of God.
May the eternal God be your refuge, and underneath you, the everlasting arms. And may you soon look back on this dark hour and trace the footsteps of the Shepherd who carried you through.
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and give you peace. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.