Dealing With Fear
Mark 4:35-41
INTRODUCTION
Story: Current economic situations and problems in the Philippines!
I sought the Lord, and he answered me; He delivered me from all my fears. Psalm 34:4
Think of your greatest fears and keep it on your mind while we are studying the Scriptures.
A well known American internist and a growing body of medical specialist say, 90% of the chronic patients they treat illnesses started not with a cough or cold but with fear. Fear of losing a job, of old age, of money troubles, or of being exposed. Sometimes the fear is nothing more than a superficial anxiety; sometimes it is so deep seated that the patient himself denies its existence. Sooner or later these fears manifest themselves as “a clinical symptom.” The patient begins a series of rounds, doctor to doctor, taking injections, hormones, tranquilizers and tonics in search of for relief. (SermonCentral)
We fear LIFE so much because we fear GOD so little. William Gurnall.
Lets see some important facts in this story:
1. Sometimes Jesus calms the storms.
He has the power to do so. That is one of the lessons of this passage. Jesus has the authority over creation. He has the power over the storms of your life. He who created the mountains can say to those mountains in your life, "Move and be cast yonder in the sea," and they will obey Him.
In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33 NIV
A little boy who was fishing one day years ago. He saw one of the big beautiful Paddle Steamboats headed down the river and he immediately stood up and began yelling and waving, "Over here! Over here!" I want to ride." An old man fishing near the boy on the bank tried to calm down the boy explaining that the big riverboat was much too important a ship to stop and give rides to little boys. You can imagine the old man’s surprise when the huge ship began crossing over to the riverside where the two were fishing. When the boat edged to the riverbank and dropped it’s gangplank the little boy climbed aboard. When he reached the pilot house on the ship the little boy called down to the elderly gentleman, "Mister, I knew this ship would stop for me. The captain is my father!" The little boy knew his location - he knew where he stood in relation to the Captain and he could call the ship over fully expecting it to do so.
2. Sometimes He lets the storms of life rage us.
In His wisdom, and because of His plan for us, Jesus will allow us to go through many storms. It is a test of faith. It is for our good to refine our faith and give us overcoming faith.
In James 1:2-4, we read, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."
Again, in I Peter 1:6-7, we read, "In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
Through difficulties come victories. The trials we face build our faith. They make us mature. The fact is, we all need certain storms in life. Without them, our faith would not mature and our lives would be incomplete.
3. Sometimes He lets the storms stay on us.
This is precisely what happened here. The disciples were full of fear, the opposite of faith. And because of their inability to handle the situation, Jesus intervened. But had they been willing to trust in Him, they would not have even needed His intervention. They would have, by faith, been able to handle the situation themselves. It still would have been in His power, but His power working through them. They may not have stilled the storm, but then, they may not have needed to. Jesus certainly did not.
You see, this is a story of questions. There are really three questions around which this story revolves. The disciples asked Jesus one question. They asked, "Have you no care?" Jesus asked them two questions. He asked, "Why are you afraid?" and "Have you no faith?"
At times, we too are like the disciples. We feel that Jesus is indifferent to us and to our needs. We, too way, "Lord, don’t you care that I’m going through this hard time? Why don’t you do something, Lord?" And we hear nothing. It is as if He is asleep, as in the boat. But He is not asleep, and He does care. The thing we are going through may be necessary for our development.
The caterpillar must struggle His way out of the cocoon on his own. There sometimes needs to be a great fish for a Jonah to come to his senses. This may be a trial to refine our faith, or it may be a chastening to bring us back to our senses. But whatever it is, it is done because of the love of God for us.
4. Sometimes He lets the storms of life strain us.
Jesus is our loving father. He wants our best. The gold is put into the fire because it is gold. There would be no use putting a rock there. The diamond of the first order is cut many more times, that it may reflect light through numerous facets, and become thus more glorious. If we are tried and chastened, it is because we are sons, not because we are illegitimate.
This is the God who is with you in the midst of the trial. Would He let your foot slip? Would He forsake one for whom Christ died? To do so would be to forsake His own nature. "I have loved thee with an everlasting love," says the Scripture, of God’s love for us.
Sometimes it’s hard to believe, because trials cause us to think that Jesus leave us aside.
When a small boy came home from Sunday School, his father asked him what he had learned that day. "The teacher taught us about the children of Israel escaping from Egypt," the little boy replied, "and when they came to the Red Sea they pumped up their inflatable boats so they could get away from Pharaoh’s soldiers."
"Now wait a minute," said Dad. "Is that really the way it happened?" The little boy replied, "If I told it the way she did, you’d never believe it!"
Yes, its hard to believe but it is true.
Paul writes, "suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." Romans 5:3-4.
Notice the important word, "produces" in this verse. You might want to circle or underline that word on your Chapel Notes. "Suffering," whether it comes in the form of trials, troubles, pressures or problems can be productive. Problems in your life are meant to produce maturity. We can learn from our losses much, much easier than we can learn from our successes.
We need to see that fear is the opposite of faith. Over and over we are commanded, "Fear not!" God said, "Fear not, Joshua, be strong and of good courage." The Lord speaks to us and says, "Fear not, for I have redeemed thee." Over and over, Jesus says, "Fear not." And here, he asks His disciples, "Why do you fear?"
Our question to Jesus is, "Have you no care?" His reply to us is, "Have you no faith?" This is the key. While we say, "Lord, don’t you care about my situation?" He says, "Son, don’t you trust me in it?"
Faith drives out fear. The Bible teaches that we have not been given a spirit of fear. The only reason we ever question God is because of fear, or a lack of faith. They are really the same many times. When we trust God, we have no reason to fear. For we know that as long as we are in His hands we are safe. And we trust that whatever He deems best for us is truly best. There is no need to fear when He is on our side.
Oh, that we may say, like the Psalmist, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me." That is faith. That is where the Lord wants us to be.
“H. G. Spafford was a businessman in Chicago. He was a dedicated Christian. [There were times in his life when the wisdom he followed was earthly, unspiritual, and subject to the enemy’s schemes]. He had some serious financial reversals, and during the time of readjustment, he lost his home.”
He realized his family needed to get away for a vacation. Spafford decided to take his entire family to England. He sent his wife and four daughters ahead . . . In midocean the French steamer carrying his loved ones collided with another and sank within twelve minutes; 230 people lost their lives. The four daughters were drowned, but Mrs. Spafford was rescued. She wired her husband, “Saved alone.”
“Mr. Spafford was [understandably] almost overcome with grief. He had lost his property, his four precious daughters were buried beneath the dark waves of the sea, and his wife was prostrate with grief on the other side of the world. [Spafford could have relied on earthly wisdom and turned his grief into bitterness. He could have tried to get his pound of flesh from the French steamer company by filing lawsuits. He could have justified in his own mind being angry with God and the world, and shaking his fist at the One who allowed his earthly life to seemingly be destroyed]. Instead, he put all his trust in God and wrote a song that has comforted thousands since that time”:
“When peace like a river attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea-billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
‘It is well, it is well with my soul’”
