by Nathan Schwepler

Created on: July 14, 2009

Rufus had never been in the water. He knew nothing about floating, kicking his feet, moving his hands. He could not swim. But when foolish Rufus saw the pretty, blue water, he could not resist. He ran full speed for the pool and jumped in. The lifeguard pulled him out of the pool.

"You need to learn to swim before you jump in the water. This is not safe for you," the guard scolded.

"But I like it. I want to go back in there."

As Rufus struggled with the lifeguard to get back to the water, it started to rain. Gentle drops splashed into the pool and sprinkled the people on the patio.

"AAAHHHHHH! Help me, help me, save me! Get me out of here!" Rufus was screaming and thrashing his body in terror.

"What is wrong with you?" questioned the lifeguard.

"Water is falling from the sky! It is hitting me on the head! Ahhh, a drop just got me on the arm!"

Boris wanted to visit his brother in Boston, so he went to the train station and bought a ticket. But Boris never got on the train. When his train arrived, Boris did not like the looks of it. He walked slowly to the door and leaned in.

"No, no, no," shrieked Boris. "I am not getting into that metal box. I could get trapped in there forever. I will walk to Boston."

So Boris walked to the front of the train and onto the tracks. He strolled calmly down the train tracks without a care in the world as the train behind him started to move.

The Bible records a trip that Jesus took when he met a lot of the wrong fear. The trip started at night. Jesus slept while the disciples guided the boat across the lake, but a bad storm came up. It was bad enough to sink the boat, and these guys feared death. If they had no fear they might have done nothing. Does no fear means that they just sat and watched the huge waves fill the boat with water? The right fear of that huge storm would cause them to stand in faith to stop it. That is what Jesus did. And when Jesus stopped the storm with his words of faith, the disciples made an even bigger fear mistake. They should have been thrilled that God was with them with such power, but they were terrified.

When Jesus and the disciples got to the other side of the lake, they met a messed-up guy. This guy lived without clothes in a graveyard, because he wouldn't stay in a house and no one could keep him in a prison. He cried out night and day and cut himself with rocks. This was a scary guy. There are some safety steps to remember for naked, super-strong, crazy guys, but you don't have

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