Squig is afraid of thunder.  I understand that--it is loud and unexpected.  He trembles all over and hides between the sofa and the wall, or gets in my closet under my dresses and won't come out.  But in addition to that, he is afraid of the rain.  Which I don't understand.  Even when the rain is soft and there is no thunder, Squig shakes like a leaf.   Which makes it difficult when he needs to go outside.  I have to pick him up and take him outside and literally throw him into the grass.  (If I set him down, he won't move.  He will just stand at my feet and shiver.)  I have to stand there getting soaked with rain until he goes.  But, we have worked out an agreement:  he isn't getting back in the house until he's done.  He doesn't like it, but he has figured out what he has to do to get back in out of the rain.

I feel sorry for him.  I thought that after awhile he would get over it.  It's just water.  But no.  If it is water coming out of the sky, he is terrified.  Have you ever been afraid of something that mentally you knew was not rational.  I have.  I am sure that we all have.  Usually our rational side overcomes our emotional side because we deal with the problem in our minds and move forward--rationally.  And the more we face our fears, the quicker they subside.

When Jesus died on the cross, the disciples were fearful.  The Jewish people had believed that when the Messiah came, he would set up an earthly kingdom and overthrow the Roman government's hold on Israel--which in fact was a treaty.  Israel had agreed--in order to avoid war, and for protection--to allow Rome to control the government as long as it did not interfere with the laws and religion of the Jews.  Rome even allowed the Jews to collect taxes for the Romans--remember Matthew who was a Jew.   Jesus was looked on by the Romans as a possible leader of insurrrection.

Two of the disciples even got into a spat about who was going to sit on Jesus's right and left side when he formed his kingdom--even those close to him didn't get it.  So when Jesus died, the disciples vanished--they went back to fishing.  They had no leader.  But something changed them.  They saw Jesus alive again.  He ate with them, talked with them, touched them.  And they were never the same.  They didn't remain as a group, but individually went from there to spread the gospel and to die for that message--alone.  They were no longer afraid of death.  They now knew the truth.  Jesus had conquered death to give us eternal life.  That is a message worth dying for.