"And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?"
Mark 4:40
We usually think of fear as an involuntary reaction, and so it can seem puzzling when the scriptures rebuke us for feeling it. And yet, the very fact that Christ makes the connection between fear and faith here helps us to understand that, very often, fear is something that we can choose to overcome. Maybe the first time we feel fear about something it grabs us, but as we learn more about ourselves and why we fear, and especially more about God, the more we can overcome fear and choose faith.
The context of this scripture is even more confusing as we begin. Christ was with his disciples in a boat, and a storm came upon them, and apparently the storm was so bad that the disciples thought that they were going to die ("carest thou not that we perish?" in verse 38). Storms definitely don't seem like something that we can control, and fear seems perfectly natural under the circumstances. And yet...
Christ wakes up, stands up, calms the storm, and then this verse. I don't think that he was rubuking them for not being able to control the storm, or the situation. I think that he was chastising them for not knowing that things would be fine. And that is a hard thing to feel when you think you are about to die. But after this, the disciples likely felt differently and trusted more. If another storm came up, they probably remembered that God *did* care, and that if he was around, he would help them. And then they learned, perhaps after his resurrection, that he would *always* be around, even if he wasn't sitting beside them physically.
We can also learn not to fear the storms of life, actual and symbolic, as we put our trust in God. It's definitely not easy, and something that we have to learn over time, but, like the disciples that were with Christ, we too can learn that God is always around, and will always, always help us as we put our trust in him. Things might not always work out exactly the way that we want them to, but we can weather the storms and move forward with faith, knowing that things will work out according to God's will, and additionally that his will is a happy ending for us all, as we follow his path. Today, let's work on having less fear and more faith.
Mark 4:40
We usually think of fear as an involuntary reaction, and so it can seem puzzling when the scriptures rebuke us for feeling it. And yet, the very fact that Christ makes the connection between fear and faith here helps us to understand that, very often, fear is something that we can choose to overcome. Maybe the first time we feel fear about something it grabs us, but as we learn more about ourselves and why we fear, and especially more about God, the more we can overcome fear and choose faith.
The context of this scripture is even more confusing as we begin. Christ was with his disciples in a boat, and a storm came upon them, and apparently the storm was so bad that the disciples thought that they were going to die ("carest thou not that we perish?" in verse 38). Storms definitely don't seem like something that we can control, and fear seems perfectly natural under the circumstances. And yet...
Christ wakes up, stands up, calms the storm, and then this verse. I don't think that he was rubuking them for not being able to control the storm, or the situation. I think that he was chastising them for not knowing that things would be fine. And that is a hard thing to feel when you think you are about to die. But after this, the disciples likely felt differently and trusted more. If another storm came up, they probably remembered that God *did* care, and that if he was around, he would help them. And then they learned, perhaps after his resurrection, that he would *always* be around, even if he wasn't sitting beside them physically.
We can also learn not to fear the storms of life, actual and symbolic, as we put our trust in God. It's definitely not easy, and something that we have to learn over time, but, like the disciples that were with Christ, we too can learn that God is always around, and will always, always help us as we put our trust in him. Things might not always work out exactly the way that we want them to, but we can weather the storms and move forward with faith, knowing that things will work out according to God's will, and additionally that his will is a happy ending for us all, as we follow his path. Today, let's work on having less fear and more faith.
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