Come Afraid

"Immediately he spoke to them and said, Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid." (Mark 6:50)

No one ever tells us we are allowed to come afraid. We assume the fear has to be dealt with first, resolved, prayed away, sufficiently repented of, so that we can show up before God as people with our houses in order and our hands steady. Which means that whenever we are most afraid, we do not come at all. That is the trap, and it is beautifully built, because the condition for coming is the very thing that only comes from having come.

But watch what the disciples actually do. They do not stop being afraid and then get into the boat. They are terrified in the boat. They are terrified when he walks toward them on the water, and more terrified, not less, because they think he is a ghost. And he gets in with them anyway. He does not wait on the shore for them to compose themselves.

So bring it, whatever it is at two in the morning. Bring it in exactly the condition it is in: unresolved, undignified, still shaking. You are not required to arrive brave. You are only required to arrive. The voice that tells you to wait until you have calmed down before you pray is not the voice of God; it is the very fear, protecting itself by keeping you away from the only One who could speak to it. Come as you are, afraid, and let him be the one who says, take heart, it is I.