Faith vs. Fear
Mark 4:40 But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?"
A great storm had come upon Jesus and His disciples after the Lord had called them to cross over the sea of Galilee. As the wind blew and the waves filled their boat, the disciples entered into to panic mode. They awoke Jesus, who was at such peace that He slept on a pillow in the stern of the boat. His peace was in stark contrast to their panic. What came out of their mouths was a true indication of the condition of their hearts, as it always is with as well. They said to Jesus, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"
Even though they had the Messiah on board with them; even though they were told they were going to cross over to the other side of the Sea by the One who created the wind and waves; Even though they could see visibly the peace Jesus had; they still were overcome with fear.
It is easy to look back upon the disciples and see their weaknesses, but would any of us have acted any differently? Probably not. Just like them, we too enter into the sudden and ominous storms of life and get overwhelmed.
The problem with the disciples and with us is that they allowed fear to operate in them rather than faith. They became reactive and not proactive. They looked at the problem instead of the solution. Jesus' reaction is telling: "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?" There seems to be a tone of bewilderment in the voice of Jesus here. Like He can’t believe they would allow externals to control their internals.
Fear is the enemy of faith. May the Lord grant us a greater measure of faith so that we can live from the inside out. So we can create peace amidst the chaos and not become a part of it. So that, what is in us is greater than what is in the world.