Faithful Christian Commitment and service
in the Middle East for almost 150 years The Nazareth Trust Healing in the Name of Jesus Since 1861
in the Middle East for almost 150 years The Nazareth Trust Healing in the Name of Jesus Since 1861
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Mark 4: 35 - 41
That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.
A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"
He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"
They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"
This event is reported in three gospels and we see two important questions asked:
“Don’t you care that we are drowning?” and “Why are you so afraid?”
As the disciples were going through a storm, we also experience many storms in our lives. Storms of different kinds, maybe of loneliness, sickness or fear, storms of losing people we love, failing or being left alone. Here in Nazareth we are seeing many people suffering from fear because of Swine flu!
In this passage we see the disciples in a storm of fear and yet the Lord rebukes them and asks them, “Why are you so afraid?”. We can see the storm of fear versus faith. Faith cancels out fear, as we see in Isaiah 12: 2 “Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation”.
People have many fears and we all experience them. However, there is a good kind of fear, which keeps us from danger. Sometimes we may even use this kind of fear as a means of protecting our children. There is also the fear of punishment, which is useful for discipline. We see this as we watch drivers slow down when they see the traffic police!
The most important fear is however, the fear of the Lord. This is the beginning of knowledge and the fountain of life. It opens a way to abundant life in Christ which is taken away by the negative fears mentioned earlier.
Experiencing fear is unpleasant and we prefer not to repeat these experiences. However, it is not by accident that the phrase “Do not be afraid” is repeated 365 times in the bible – one for each day!
So what causes fear in our lives?
A guilty conscience can cause fear. In the Old Testament Adam and Eve hid from God out of fear, after they had disobeyed him.
Ignorance can also cause it, not knowing what will happen can cause us to fear the future. Sickness – again, not knowing what might happen and thoughts of an unknown future can cause us to fear.
The real cause of fear is unbelief. After stilling the storm, Jesus asked his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”. Victory over fear means faith in God. We must get our eyes off ourselves and our problems and fix them on God alone. When the scouts returned from Canaan in the Old Testament, 10 came back fearful and 2 saw it with faith.
In Romans 10: 17 we are told: “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” 2 Timothy 1: 7 says: “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”
Not only is faith related to fear, but also in 1 John 4: 18 we are told, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
The power of love can cast out fear. Fear is an emotional feeling but we must be led by the Spirit not the flesh. Whenever we experience fear we need to focus on God, remember His love and lay hold of the promises in Scripture. Then we can truly be free from fear.
Speaker: Rev Suheil Bathish