AN ANSWER FOR FEAR

MATTHEW 8:23-27 NKJ 
23 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. 25 Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!" 
26 But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?" 
 

OBSERVATION: 

This entire chapter contains some great faith lessons.   

First, we have the leper who comes to Jesus. He is not confident of Jesus' will to heal him. Jesus answers his doubt by expressing that it was His will to heal him and then reaches out and touches the leper. What a faith booster to hear Jesus and then have him back up those words by touching the untouchable leper. 

Then there is the Roman centurion with a sick servant. He had a faith that caused Jesus to marvel. All this soldier needed was for Jesus to say the word. This man understood how authority worked and received healing for his servant. 

And now we come to the disciples in the boat with Jesus. A sudden storm was causing waves to crash into the boat, and it scared the disciples. Some of those disciples were ex-fishermen, so this must have been some storm. 

Evidently, Jesus was a sound sleeper. The disciples had to wake Him up to let Him know they were all about to die. In Mark's account of the story, the disciples were so afraid they actually accused Jesus of not caring that they all were going to die.  

Before Jesus took care of the storm, He spoke to His guys. He wanted to know why they were so fearful. Why their faith was so small. 

Then He spoke to the storm, and it shut down, and there was a great calm. 

Jesus was never unfair. If He was questioning why they were so fearful and why their faith was so little, He was not being unkind or unreasonable. He had reason to expect more from this group.   

But His question gives us insight into how to deal with fear. The answer for fear is bigger faith.  

APPLICATION: 

What would help all of us answer the fear we face is a greater faith. Spending time in fellowship with the Lord, reading His Word, and thinking about God and His great power will build our faith. The stronger our faith, the more fear loses its grip.  

So instead of trying to eliminate fear, focus on building your faith. As someone so wisely put.. fear came knocking on my door. Faith answered and fear was gone. 

PRAYER: 

Thank You, Lord. My faith can grow, and fear’s grip on my life will get weaker and weaker.