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“We can either be driven by fears or governed by fear. Fear-driven lives are out of control. Fear-governed lives are surrendered to the everpresent supervision and companionship of the Lord of all.” ~ Jan David Hettinga
Fear can destroy our leadership! Whether it is the fear of another or the fear of the unknown, fear paralyzes one’s faith.
But there is another possibility. It is possible that fear is just an external symptom of a lack of faith! Listen as Jesus explains …
On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!” Mark 4:35-41 (NKJV)
We become like Jesus when …
o We trust God in the midst of any storm!
Imagine being in the midst of the Sea of Galilee and the storm is so fierce that you are fearing for your life … it seems imminent that you will die! Wow! Now, consider that Jesus is asleep in your boat … and you are still that fearful! These are the conditions surrounding Jesus’ rebuke of his followers in this passage.
It is pretty obvious that the men had not yet grasped the concept of exactly who Jesus really was … their words after the event betray this: “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”
We may sit back and laugh at the foolishness of these men … but many of us would have to admit that we still do the same thing. Although Jesus isn’t physically present with us, he is with us, nonetheless. And although these men didn’t grasp the enormity of Jesus’ persona, we have the benefit of the whole revelation of God to demonstrate His position inside the Godhead.
Now, we come to the point of this lesson: Do I trust Jesus enough in the storm to swallow my fear, draw on my faith and move forward without anxiety? If not, perhaps internalizing Romans 10.17 will recharge our faith-batteries before the next storm approaches? And believe me, it will come! There is always another storm approaching!
Trust Jesus! He is able to deliver you from all that comes at you!
© 2009 By Dr. Matthew Lee Smith
Jesus did not die on the cross, and rise the third day so that we could “cope.” He sits at the right hand of the Father on his glorious Throne so that we can OVERCOME! He is accompanying you throughout your life, and he wants to make so much more out of our lives than any of us are currently enjoying!
