Mark 3 & 4: Faith, Fear, and Reality
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God worked in the background to ready the world for His Son to make His appearance. Through angels, God announced the coming of His kingdom with Jesus as the king. Mark recorded Jesus making this same announcement about Himself. Such good news gave hope to a discouraged people as they looked to Jesus as their deliverer. We have seen these truths in our Mark blog series. In Mark chapter 2, we looked at the truth that Jesus is with us in our homes and uses our homes to reach others around us. In this post, we will learn from Mark chapters 3 and 4 that Jesus is with us when the storms of life hit. We can look at the reality of troubles in this world and apply faith to any fear in our lives.
Listen to this blog as a similar podcast from our Heartbreak to Hope Bible Study of Mark.
Storms of Life Hit
When you get blindsided
Do you feel sometimes that you are just spinning like a top and nothing will stop the spinning? Life is going well. You’re doing your job faithfully, whatever it is. Then you get blindsided. The world starts spinning. It doesn’t seem like it will ever stop. Where do you go to find security when life hits like that? Where do you get the courage to keep going?
The Bible teaches that we can face life’s realities with courage and peace by entrusting ourselves and our loved ones to a God who loves us dearly. I believe that you and I can learn to do that and apply faith to any fear that we face. How do we learn it? We can learn it by watching and listening to Jesus.
What happened in Mark 4
The calming of the storm experience in Mark chapter 4 is a familiar story. The disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee in a boat. That was a normal life experience for them. They were working the sails and oars. Jesus was sleeping in the back of the boat.
Suddenly, a fierce storm hit. Such storms were common on the Sea of Galilee because it was situated in a basin surrounded by mountains. Every storm with high winds and waves was a real threat to those who were in boats. So, when the disciples realized what was happening, they got afraid. Now, at least four of them were skilled fishermen. This wasn’t the first time they experienced this. Had they always panicked? Somehow through using their own skills, we know they had managed to get safely to the shore in the past because they were alive here. But they panicked.
The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (Mark 4:38-40)
Basically, Jesus asked: “Why are you cringing in fear? You know who I am. I am with you. I said we were going to the other side. Why didn’t you believe me? All you could see was your own weakness, not God’s strength to get you through it.”
Do you recognize that in your life?
Storms hit all Christians
Storms of life hit every day to even the most faithful Christians. As I am recording this podcast, our world is going through the coronavirus pandemic of 2020. Most of us are sheltering in place for weeks to stay away from the danger. This pandemic is not our fault just like that storm was not the disciples’ fault. It was part of life for them. Every one of us must deal with disappointments, problems, and tragedies in life. Was there real danger for them? Is there real danger for us today? Yes and yes.
Fear is a normal human emotion designed by God to alert us to the presence of danger so that we will take action against it. We are supposed to act on it by either fleeing from the danger or facing it head on.
Taking action either way is a good thing. The emotion of fear is a gift from God.
Where I get into trouble is when I let my imagination run wild, give in to despair, and doubt God’s goodness. Do you ever do that? That’s what happened to the disciples in the boat with Jesus. They told Jesus, “Don’t you care if we drown?” Isn’t that often our emotion when trouble hits. God, don’t you care? That pessimism comes from our view of trouble. We can have 2 views:
#1: The Pagan, Non-Biblical View of Trouble
This is the world’s view of trouble. It says that when things go well, the gods are happy with us. When things go wrong, the gods are angry with us. So the goal of life is to stay on the good side of the gods so bad things won’t happen.
Even Christians get caught up into this kind of thinking. We try to interpret events, especially tragedies, as signs of God’s anger or punishment: “Why did this happen?” “What does it mean?” “What is God trying to tell me?” Or we say this: “If I’m a good Christian, have enough faith, or am spiritual enough, I can expect from God personal peace, prosperity, and health. Bad things won’t happen to me.”
But look at the disciples. Now that they were with Jesus, what do you think was their expectation? No more storms on the Sea of Galilee? That is like expecting no more hail storms in North Texas or no more hurricanes along the Gulf Coast. Not gonna happen!
When the disciples asked if Jesus even cared if they drowned, their real questions were these: “Don’t you love us enough? What have we done to make you not care?” They doubted His love and goodness. That’s what we often do when we are faced with life’s realities. That’s the worldly view of trouble.
We need to replace that thinking with…
#2: The Godly, Biblical View of Trouble
Here a few facts to help you stop looking at troubles from the world’s point of view.
Fact #1: We live in a fallen, evil, cursed world.
We live in a spiritual war zone. Some places literally are a war zone. We are in the last days of this broken old creation. Not gonna get fixed until Jesus returns! In that until time, while we are waiting, you and I have the life of the new creation on the inside through the Holy Spirit. But at the same time, we are living in a body and world of the old, fallen creation. The Bible says this world is groaning because of its corruption. Some of our troubles are from that. Illnesses, debilitating injuries, earthquakes, tornadoes, and other natural disasters. Fact #1: We live in a corrupted world.
Fact #2: God has chosen from the beginning to give all humans the freedom to act.
Some trouble comes from our own idiotic behavior. We make bad decisions then have to deal with the consequences. I’ve been there. They may be hard, but God lets us experience consequences to show us why we need Him more and how ugly our sin really is.
Sometimes we must live through the consequences of someone else’s bad decisions through no fault of our own. I know listening to me now are victims of theft, rape, childhood abuse, rejection by a spouse, or very painful things others have done to you. That’s when we are tempted to ask the questions: “Why does God let people do evil? Why doesn’t He stop it if He is capable of doing that?”
The true answer is that He does stop evil all the time. God’s Spirit stops more evil on this earth than we will ever know. Every day, He is stopping evil. He is called the restrainer of evil in 2 Thessalonians 2:7. Would you like to know what this world will look like when the Holy Spirit is no longer restraining evil? Go and read Revelation chapters 5-19. We aren’t there yet, so we know He’s restraining it.
But He doesn’t stop all evil now because that would mean taking away ALL human freedom. Do you want that? The thing that the Bible teaches is that God takes our freedom and responsibility far more seriously than we do. That is a gift He gave to us from the beginning (Genesis 2:16-17).
Humans demand their freedom to do what they want to do. Then when something bad happens, they blame God for letting it happen. Illogical, isn’t it?
We don’t have to have an answer for all bad things happening. In this world, all may not turn out well. No matter how hard we try to fix it. But, when we are with Christ, we will have the whole story. Fact #2: God has given all humans the freedom to act.
Fact #3: We have an enemy named Satan who is real and has influence on our natural world and the people in it.
The devil entices people to rebel against God, and he can cause bad things to happen. Fact #3: We have an enemy.
Fact #4: Our God is great and powerful and will one day fix this broken world.
Yay! That is a promise to us. It will happen in our future.
While Waiting in the “Until” Time
In the meantime, problems and troubles in life are normal, not abnormal. Jesus told that to us in John chapter 16. We should expect trouble. People in the past may have understood better that trouble was a part of life. Today’s generation is surprised by it.
And, women in general have a problem with this. We are created with a need for security and stability so we aim to control our environment to create that security for us and for those we love. Our western way of thinking is that we can fix it—whatever IT is. When we cannot fix it, we panic. And, fear can bring out the worst in us, especially in our uncertain world filled with the threat of terrorism and germs.
But friends, control is an illusion. We can only control our own behavior and thinking. So, stop that bad thinking that God is mad at you when trouble hits and start thinking with a Biblical mind. God is good. And, in His goodness, He allows some not-so-good things into our lives.
Our choice is not whetherwe will have trouble, but what kind of preparation we’ll make and what response we’ll choose in facing life’s realities when they hit us.
The preparation is filling your mind with truth from God’s Word. That’s believing that God is good all the time and that He loves you plus other truths clearly stated in Scripture. God never withdraws His love from you. That frees you to love Him back. To trust Him. To obey Him. To use all of your resources to serve Him even while living in a hostile war zone.
A Process To Apply Faith to Any Fear
So, here is a process to help you apply faith to any fear you are facing.
Step 1: Confront it: What fears do you have right now? Think about them. The worst ones, the real ones, and the imaginary ones.
Step 2: Ask about each one: What is my worst-case scenario? Consider just one of those fears. What is the worst that could happen? Think realistically—what is reasonable not everything that is possible.
Step 3: Consider this: If the worst I can imagine happens, could I handle it through the presence and power of Jesus Christ? As a believer, you have the power of the One who created the universe living inside of you. Can He help you get through anything? Yes!
Step 4: Remember these four truths and speak them to yourself:
- God loves you. You are part of that world that God loves. As a believer in Jesus, the Father pours out His love into your heart through His Spirit so you can experience His love. God loves you. John 16:27; Romans 5:5, Ephesians 5:1
- God knows what is going on in your life. God is everywhere and knows everything. If He doesn’t, then He isn’t really God. He knows your needs and how best to meet those needs. God knows what is going on in your life. Matthew 6:31-32; Psalm 139:1-10
- God can do something about it (whatever “it” is). Our God is all-powerful. He is capable of doing anything He chooses to do that is in agreement with His character and His purposes. God can do something about it. Genesis 18:14; Luke 1:37; Mark 10:27
- You can trust His goodness in whatever He chooses to do. The Bible says that God is good, and what He does is good. You make the choice to trust God and bank on His goodness. Psalm 119:68; Proverbs 3:5
God loves you, He knows what is going on in your life, He can do something about it, and you can trust His goodness in whatever He chooses to do.
Step 5: Pray: Prayer is simply talking to God about anything and everything. Thank the Lord for His presence and His goodness. Ask Him for the courage and peace to ride out the storm. Where the Bible is clear, you can claim God’s promises by faith. Anytime, you can ask for deliverance and protection. But, you cannot hold God to promises He hasn’t made, such as immunity from natural calamities, illness, and troubles.
Step 6: Live life securely in Him: Take common sense precautions. Be wise in the world. Trust God to show you what to do and to give you strength when you are weak.
Dear friends, God may not choose to rescue you from everything that is threatening you. Right thinking may not make the trouble go away or make life easy again. But you will be better able to walk forward with the courage and peace to face whatever hits. And you can choose to apply faith to any fear!
Let Jesus satisfy your heart with hope, healing, and love as you get to know Him and trust Him more each day.
The above information is covered in our Heartbreak to Hope Bible Study of Mark.
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AI was not used to generate this post.