The Essential JesusSample

Fear Factor

PRAY: Lord, I pray that as I come to your Word today, you would use it to meet the deepest needs in my life.

READ: Mark 4:35-41

REFLECT: The facts of Mark 4:35-41 are fairly straightforward: Jesus and his disciples are in a boat when a storm blows in. Jesus commands the storm to stop, and it does. This dramatic miracle reveals another aspect of Jesus' glory: he has power over the forces of nature. That's pretty impressive.

But if I had been in that boat with the disciples, I might have felt Jesus' questions at the end were a little unfair (v. 40). "You bet we were afraid; while you were sleeping, we almost got killed!" Anyone who's ever been out on a boat in a big storm (or even a rough sea) knows the feeling of powerlessness and fear that comes from being out of control.

Fear is something that everyone struggles with at some point. Occasionally, we may find ourselves in physical danger. But more often, our fears come from pondering the endless number of worst-case scenarios that threaten us: failure at work, financial disaster, broken relationships, being alone, deteriorating health, or death.

But that's the point behind Jesus' seemingly unfair questions: things are never out of control when we are with him. Once we belong to Jesus, it doesn't matter what happens; it doesn't matter how bad things get. Jesus has the power to change not only the wind and the waves but also every force at work in our lives.

Of course, it would be nice to think that believing in Jesus would immediately remove all fear from our lives. But the truth is, like the disciples in the boat, we are human; we lose control and become fearful. It happens to me all the time. But that's when we need to force ourselves back to the message of this miracle: with Jesus, we have nothing to fear. Faith doesn't mean that we'll never face danger or that bad things will never happen to us. Instead, faith means believing that Jesus is in charge and knowing that we belong to him.

APPLY: What are your biggest fears? For each one, what is the root cause of the fear?

PRAY: Honestly talk to God about the things that you fear. Ask him to help you replace those fears with a surer faith in his control of your life.