"Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?" Mark 4:35-41 NKJV
The disciples had been with Jesus for some time by now and yet, they still lacked faith. They had witnessed Jesus performing great healings and changing people's lives and they had been astounded by it all but, they failed big time on what could be classed as a test.
Jesus had asked them to take Him over to the other side of the lake (v35), and they obeyed, However, as they were going on their short journey, a great windstorm arose, threatening to sink the boat. Jesus was asleep in the stern so didn't respond to their frightened screams for help. Why didn't He respond? He must have heard them crying out and also felt the raging sea and waves washing over the boat? But He slept. Many believe that He was testing their faith - how they would handle this trauma; after-all, they had witnessed great faith being carried out with Jesus, they had heard His words. Don't forget that Romans 10:17 says: 'Faith comes by hearing and hearing, by the word of God.' And no doubt they would have heard many faith-filled words spoken by Jesus. Therefore, He tested them to see how their faith was growing. And He could see that it was not great.
It's not enough to learn a lesson or be able to teach it, we need to be able to put it into practice and, this is why God allows people to be tested; and this is what He was doing with these fishermen who He dearly loved. The problem was, they had lost what little faith they had and, given into fear and fear will always rob us of the truth. Bob Gass used to say that F.E.A.R is False Evidence Appearing Real. Yes the waves were very real and there was nothing false about them. However, this fear blinded them to the truth - that they were not acting by faith. Their unbelief caused them to be fearful and, fear is the opposite to faith; it caused them to believe that Jesus didn't really care about what was happening to them. They were in the chains of fear.
Jesus, today, asks you the same question when you begin to doubt: 'Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?' Be honest, do you need to improve in this area? What holds you back from doing this? Do you believe what you read in your bible or does it just get forgotten because of the many things that crowd your mind? Perhaps you need to think and pray this area through so that Jesus can minister to you. What you are reading and hearing now should generate faith within you? Does it? It's the word of God. If faith isn't happening for you, then please speak to the creator of faith - Jesus. Bless you.
Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.
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