Mark 4:37- 41: And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?
Jesus spoke these words to His disciples when they became fearful because of a storm that arose while they were with Him in a boat on the sea. Jesus was resting, asleep in the boat when the storm hit and in panic they woke Him up and asked Him if he really cared for them, as it looked like they would perish. As His children today, when we become fearful, we take this same attitude when our personal “storms of life” look like we might sink. Even though the Lord is with us, we act as if He is not there to do anything. The disciples forgot that Jesus told them to get in the boat and go with Him to the other side. Since He told them where they were going, they could have trusted Him to get them there. They had seen Him do miracles for many, but doubted that He could do a miracle for them. They forgot He was the true Master of everything, even the wind and the storm. We can find ourselves in the same place if we look at the storm instead of looking to Jesus, the Master of the universe, who has power over the storm. He is the One that can bring peace into any situation and has the answer for every problem we face.
We need to understand that fear is the opposite of faith. We cannot operate in fear and faith at the same time. Now, how can we overcome fear and walk in faith? The Bible tells us in Romans 10:17: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” If we are to grow in faith then we must walk in a close relationship with the Lord to hear Him, and meditate on the Words of God and study the Bible. Walking in faith and overcoming doubt and unbelief means that we choose to believe God’s Word over every circumstance and negative thing that does not agree with God’s Word.
The place to start is to find out what the Bible has to say about every problem we face. The Bible is the Christian’s standard for everything. When we study the Bible, we can find out….
- How to raise our children
- How to have a happy marriage
- How to be healed
- How to handle our finances
- How to be free from tormenting thoughts
- How to be free from fear
This is just naming a few things that the Bible has answers for. However, to stay on topic I want to share how to overcome fear since it is so rampant in today’s society. I am amazed how so many people today are walking fearful of something. My husband and I were at the auto repair station in the waiting room the other day waiting for our car to be checked. Our car is an old 2003 Lincoln Town car and has over 111,000 miles on it. It has been such a good comfortable car and the greatest thing is that it is paid for. This is the first major repair we have had on it, so we have had no need to buy a new one.
I want to take a little side trail here, and share a testimony about how God has furnished our cars over the years. Before I understood God’s economics, we were influenced by the world in regard to owning and driving automobiles. We thought we had to have a new one every year or two, which we financed and made car payments in order to be able to buy new ones. They were perfectly good cars when we traded them in. I never really owned a car or ever had one paid for at that time. When I was baptized in the Holy Spirit, the Lord began to speak to me about getting out of debt, paying off the credit cards and to believe Him for a new car when I needed one and not go into debt for one. I never knew you could ask the Lord for a car. I will not go into detail about how God, over the years, made it possible for us to own good cars and we never again had to make a car payment. We have driven most of our cars with around 200,000 miles on them before we got the next one. It reminds me a bit of how the children of Israel traversed the desert in the wilderness and their clothes and their shoes never wore out.
Several cars were given to us over the years and we put many miles on all of them. We were so thankful and just praised Him for His goodness to us. God also spoke to us to give several cars and trucks to others over the years, as well. The ministry at one time was given an old Oral Roberts tent truck with chairs and a big tent which we used when we were ministering on the Navajo Indian reservation. After we completed our work there, we gave it to a ministry in Mexico who continued to use it for getting the gospel out. We still have a few of the old chairs Oral Roberts used at his meetings and I think they may have some left over healing anointing on them, as we have prayed for people who sat in them and they were healed instantly. Makes me think of Paul in the Bible who prayed over handkerchiefs that carried an anointing from him that brought healing to others.
We rarely have had any major repairs on our cars and when we did, we had the money to do it. Or, we would pray over the problem and the Lord would actually fix the car so we could continue down the road to our next meeting. It has been a wonderful blessing to never have to make a car payment and to drive good cars. God will do the same for you, if you ask Him, as long as you do not want a car for the wrong reasons. Some people’s cars are an extension of their identity. They want to be admired for what they drive. God will never satisfy a lust, but will always meet a need. If the car you drive is not a piece of junk and runs good, then we should be thankful for the transportation; just remember all automobiles are basically four wheels and transportation. God wants us to have good things, as long as we do not put those things above Him.
Now back to the waiting room at the auto service station. We were sitting in the waiting room, where a TV news program had just announced the revenge killing of a couple of policemen in New York. There was a woman sitting next to us who gasped and said, “Oh my God, my two sons are policemen.” Bud and I could see the fear on her face, so I asked her, “Are you a Christian?” She replied that she was. I then began to witness to her that she did not have to be fearful over her sons, if she would stand on the promises of God in the Bible and cover them in prayer and the Word of God. I then shared the following scriptures with her and told her we would be praying for protection over her sons.
Psalm 37:25-26: I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.
Proverbs 11:21: Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished: but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered.
Psalm 91:5-7: Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
You can believe for your children and loved ones, as well. Faith tells us the Word of God is true and fear tells us to doubt it. Which one will you believe? What you believe will determine your future and the future of those you love. I will be sharing more on faith versus fear in the next few blogs.
Additional articles can be found on our Bible Answers page at http://bibleresources.org/bible-answers/
Related Topics
What the Bible Says about Fear
What the Bible Says about Faith
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