“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!””

‭‭Mark‬ ‭4:37-41‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Why are you so afraid?”

This is a frustrating question from Jesus. I imagined myself being in this story, feeling the rocking of the boat, having water to my ankles, not being able to see the shoreline, and even using a little cup to try to pour water out. So it didn’t take me too long to come up with an almost breathless response to Jesus’ question:

“I’m afraid because I was in a rocking boat, in the middle of a lake with water coming in and land very far, and this is a storm! I’ll drown if I fall into the water!”

Why does Jesus ask these sort of things . . . ?

Then something came to my mind. A verse written long before Jesus calmed the storm, a promise that God had made to His people.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. . .”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭43:2‬a NIV‬‬

I fear a lot of things. The future (what the heck am I going to do with my career? Spouse? etc), the present (COVID, health, new challenges, passing classes), the past (regret, fear of falling back into old ways). And I honestly think that these are legitimate fears. I might not be about to drown like the disciples, but I often find my heart drowning . . . What about you?

But today, I think Jesus presented me with a choice:

Fear of circumstance or Faith in Jesus

“Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

Here, Jesus presents fear and faith to be mutually exclusive (to clarify, when I mention fear, I don’t mean the emotion, but the choice to live out of that emotion). Either you fear the situation around you, or you have faith in the One with you.

I have legitimate reason to fear (you probably do too, as did the disciples) . . . if God is NOT with me.

I think what Jesus was saying to His disciples, and what He’s saying to you and me today is this:

“Am I with you?

Then fear not. Follow Me.”

That’s it. If Jesus is your Teacher, your Master, your Friend . . . then you have His promise:

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. . .”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭43:2‬a NIV‬‬

Questions:

What are you afraid of today?
What is Jesus saying to you today?
What is He inviting you into today?