"But soon a fierce storm arose, high waves began to break into the boat until it was nearly full of water. Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. Frantically, they woke him up, shouting, 'teacher, don't you even care that we are going to drown?' When He woke up, He rebuked the wind and said to the water, 'quiet down!' Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm."

Mark 4:37-39 (NL)

   It was an act of desperation. A last resort for a group of men who had tried with all their human knowledge to deal with the circumstance life threw their way. They had done everything they knew; even the fisherman in the bunch had given up on their ability to deal. So they all gave that one last thing they could do a chance; to wake Jesus. That was the turning point.

   Only when they turned their attention from the cirumstances of life, it's threat to their lives, to Jesus did He completely, utterly, and immediately eliminate it's threat to them. This still applies; when we turn to Jesus will He change the situation.

   They saw the storm rising, and the boat shaking in the wind, and were filled with fear. The larger and more vicious the storm got, the more their hearts became consumed in terror. They never had the inclination when the problem began that the one with them had the power to instantly solve it! They, instead, looked to their own abilities. That is where they messed up.

   They had to, like so many of us, realize that their own human efforts could not deal with any situation like Jesus could. Only in the finality where they learned to give up and to submit the situation to Jesus was He able to completely and assuredly deal with it.

   This story teaches us this lesson. Not to look to ourselves, and our human methodology, but to Jesus at the entrance of every problem; not to let them boil and fester until we become as fear filled as the apostles.

"and He asked them 'why are you so afraid? Do you still not have faith in me?'"

Mark 4:37-39 (NL)

   Jesus was not surprised and His response displays that. Here Jesus not only relieved their fears by calming the storm, but also taught them a great lesson about the nature of fear and faith. These lessons are here for us to learn as well.

   The first lesson to be learned from Jesus' response is in regards to what faith, itself, is. Jesus inquires of them about the depth of their faith and in doing so shows that faith is the knowledge that no matter what storm comes our way, no matter how dire the present looks, that as long as Jesus is with us we need not fear because He has everything under His control. Faith is trust in God in every circumstance, no matter what human instincts tell us; even if every human prevention and cure has failed.

   The second, and final lesson to be covered here, is, in my opinion, the greatest. The lesson here is the realization that faith and fear cannot coexist. If we fear, we lack faith. If we have faith, we won't fear. If we learn to trust in Jesus Christ fully than we will never operate in a spirit of fear. However, if we fail to trust, if we allow the circumstances of life dictate the level of our comfort and faith, then we will always operate in a spirit of fear because our focus is on the problem instead of on Jesus.