Friday, November 22, 2013

You Do Not Create What You Fear -- Jesus and the Disciples

We do not create what we fear at all, and our fear is not a barrier to God's working in our lives, or even our faith!

Consider this account in the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 4:

"35And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. 36And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. 37And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. 38And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? 39And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? 41And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" (Mark 4: 35-41)

First of all, Jesus told His disciples that they were all going to pass over to the other side.

Now, I have heard that sermon preached many times, yet my fear was never removed. In fact, at one point in my life I still had fear in my life, so that I wondered whether God was angry with me for being afraid. I became so upset, that I was convinced He was not going to help because of my feelings.

What a terrible bondage I had ended up in!

This passage should grant us so much more comfort than we realize.

We are not saved by our believing, but by grace which we receive by faith (Ephesians 2: 4-8), and so we simply just accept the Word of God as true, regardless of how we may feel.

Take a look at this passage. You will notice that there is no specific number of disciples mentioned, and Jesus had not called the twelve yet. We can imagine, therefore, that there were many more than merely twelve disciples in the boat, plus the fact that other boats are mentioned.

The great storm arose, and the ship began to fill with water! Wow, the disciples were understandably fearful!

Still, Jesus was asleep in the boat, in the back, and he was peaceful.

Now, consider how the disciples behaved:

"Master!"

They did not see Jesus as Savior, but as Master, or literally "Teacher".

Many Christians see Jesus as merely a "teacher", and thus they do not see Him as someone who can help them in their situation. A teacher tells you want to do, but what can a teacher do if you cannot do anything to begin with!

"Carest thou not!"

They assumed that Jesus did not care! Many of us go through hard times in our lives, and we start to doubt whether God is on our side or not. Jacob felt that way as he saw one son after another (seemingly) taken from him "All these thing are against me!" (Genesis 42: 36) he once yelled. Yet at the same time, his son Joseph was preparing everything for him in Egypt. Consider also beloved King David, who before he took the throne once despaired of ever surviving, and thus fled to live in humble meanderings with the Philistines (1 Samuel 27)

Most of us may start feelings that Jesus does not care what we are going through, since we see so much trouble around us, and He does not seem to be doing anything. Do you fear because you see him in such a manner that Jesus will not help you?

"That we perish!"

The disciples witnesses the water all around them, and they were convinced they were going to die. To the point, they declared that they were dying already! In the same fashion, when things are going bad for us, we tend to magnify our problems rather than glorify our Savior, He who walked on the storms, who overcame every hardship, and defeated Satan, sin, and death at the Cross.

Now, for all of these statements and attitudes of unbelief, what was Jesus' response?

He arose, and rebuked the sea and instilled a massive calm! He did not blow them off, He did not let them suffer, and most importantly, they did not die drowning in the sea.

In fact, He did for them beyond what they asked or thought (Ephesians 3: 16-19), for remember that the disciples questioned rather Jesus cared or not, and He not only cared about them, but took care of the storm, too!

Then Jesus chided them:

"Why are ye so fearful?"

They were afraid the whole time, of course, and they called out to Jesus, and He answered them, even though they feared. What do you know? They did not create at all what they feared!

Jesus then shared:

"How is it that ye have no faith?"

The Bible actually reads:

"How is that you have do not yet have faith?"

Faith is not about feeling, and certainly not about fear, since Jesus still heeded them.

Faith is all about how we see Jesus!

The opposite of faith is not fear, Beloved, but works:

"But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." (Romans 4: 5)

While many people have read this passage and concluded: "The disciples' fear neutralized their faith!" That's not it at all. Because they saw Jesus as only a teacher, not a Savior in all circumstances, for that reason their faith was weak.

Yet they had enough faith to call on Him, did they not?

In the same way, we should not let our feelings prevent us from receiving from Jesus, even our feelings of fear and insecurity, as if they block His grace in our lives.

So, do not worry about your fear, but keep seeing Jesus, and grow in grace and knowledge of Him (2 Peter 3: 18)

By the way, the disciples reached the other side, didn't they?! You do not create what you fear, Beloved!

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